The Mysterious Murder of Harley Quinn
by savannahbannanah
Summary: Marley Lynns, a seemingly innocent young woman, gets wrapped up in a Gotham City mystery. After the murder of Harley Quinn, Joker looks for a new girl and for the culprit-Batman. But could the vigilante have committed such a murder or was he framed? And who would want to kill Joker's sweetheart anyway? Read and find out! Romance, mystery, sexy sex, and action! Reviews welcome!
1. The Hunt

Chapter One:

The Hunt

When most people would cringe, run in fear, scream, she was mesmerized.

He was so… twisted, so evil—practically psychotic.

And she was… so innocent, so nice—partially psychotic?

She'd always found him so attractive.

It wasn't just that he was villainous; it wasn't just that he was a notorious criminal.

Maybe it was how conniving he was, how clever, how cunning.

Maybe she didn't know what it was. But her heart beat quicker as these words floated across her TV screen

—_Joker escapes from Blackgate—Joker at-large in the Diamond District—Extreme Danger—Stay in your homes—_

She couldn't believe it. He was out. He was free. He was somewhere in the Diamond District. The crazy thought donned on her—she could find him, she could see him. She wondered for a few moments why Joker would have escaped now. But to her, it didn't matter _why_, and before she saw the flashing words,

—_Death of Harley Quinn leads Joker to all new level of terror_—

she'd grabbed her backpack and jacket and was out the door headed for the Diamond District.

Life seemed to be going on as usual in the rest of Gotham despite the commotion on the other side of the bridge. The city was swimming with a mix of thugs, dapper businessmen, and innocent civilians, so she always kept a weapon with her. Today she'd grabbed her baseball bat. It was painted red and white like a candy cane from her Halloween costume a few years earlier.

She ducked down the tunnel into the underground right as a menacing group of thugs began hooting at her. It's not that she was afraid of them—she been jumped before and successfully fended off her attackers—but right now she didn't have time for delays. She had no idea how long it'd take the GCPD to lockdown the Diamond District and she had to get there before they declared martial law or called Batman or whatever the hell they did in situations like these.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the train to the Diamond District arrived on time at the platform. She jumped onto the ghost train, devoid of passengers except for four teenage thugs who were certainly no threat. Her heart had been beating fast ever since she saw the newscast, but as the train sped through the dark underground tunnel, she could feel herself getting more and more excited. She could feel a tickling, tingling sensation between her legs as the train carried her closer and closer to the Joker. His image swam through her mind. His dominating height, his sharp green eyes, his crazy green hair. She imagined his strong arms around her, and the sweet, twisted things he'd whisper in her ear. The possibility of _not _finding him didn't even cross her mind.

She felt a surge of butterflies as the train came to a metallic stop at her desired station. She was just about to leap off the train when she felt someone grab her wrist aggressively—it was one of the teenage thugs.

"Hey, miss," he said with an evil grin that flashed missing teeth. "You hear J's looking for a new squeeze?"

"Get off me," she snapped and shook her arm free from him.

"We ain't jokin', sweetheart. We work for Joker and he's lookin' for—"

"You don't work for Joker," she laughed. "I may have been born at night but it wasn't last night," and she turned to leave the train but one of them caught her backpack and yanked her back amongst them. They were all smiling viciously and she could guess what was on their filthy minds. But before they knew what happened, she'd clocked one of them across the face with her bat; it made a dry cracking sound in the close quarters of the train. He roared in pain and held his bloodied face in his hands. Before the other three could react, she jabbed at the one who'd spoken to her first and heard the disgusting clack of his few remaining teeth falling out.

"You little bitch," he said as his mouth filled with blood and a few teeth fell into his open hand.

"What'd you call me?" she asked as she cracked the bat across his face a second time; she could tell he was down for the count.

"We're gonna rape you with that bat!" and another one lunged towards her.

But she'd timed it perfectly, and she dove out the train door right as it was closing, leaving the thugs, one of which was bleeding very badly, another knocked out, locked in the subway train. The three conscious thugs gave her incensed looks of hatred, one even flipped her off, and she could only imagine what they were saying as the sounds of the station silenced their rude curses. She waved goodbye and blew a kiss as the train gathered speed to continue its' route.

She turned with a peppy bounce and made her way down the tunnel to the stairs that would lead her back up to street level. It was eerily quiet and strangely vacant in the subway station. She glanced down at her bat as she walked; it was colored with new streaks of red from the thugs. _That's what you get for messing with me,_ she said to herself happily as she popped up onto ground level.

A cool breeze hit her straight away, but besides a police car in flames, there seemed to be no other activity on the block. _Damn_, she thought, _where could he be?_ But then she looked up and saw the state of Gotham Royal Hotel. It'd been trashed; broken windows dotted its' stately façade, the words _HA HA HA_ were spray-painted in bright green upon carpets that hung out the windows, and flames raged on the entire 10th floor. Joker had to be in there somewhere.

But did he have to choose this spot as his base of operations? A few years ago she'd worked at the Royal and hated it. The place was like a vast maze of hidden passage ways, secret rooms, and high levels of corruption. She remembered one day she'd walked into a room where a rather large drug deal was going down; another day she'd walked in on her boss and a hooker. She'd vowed never to go back—yet here she was.

But right as she stepped forward to cross the street, a strong hand arrested her.

The hand swung her around to face two enormous men.

"Whatcha you doin', miss?"

And they really were enormous. Each of them at least 6 foot 7 inches and about 300 pounds of muscle, dressed in black. One could have mistaken them for regular security, maybe a special type of police, but each wore a mask upon his face. A clown mask. One of the masks grinned with a long, pointy nose, the other scowled and was painted red and white—these really_ were_ Joker's men. Her heart skipped three or four beats. Perhaps they could get her to him, but there was no way she could trust them. She willed herself to remain calm and act smart.

"Well you guys are big," is all she said.

"Yeah you better believe it," the first one chuckled and nudged the second one.

The second one shook his head at his friend. "Would you be serious?"

"I am being serious!" The first one exclaimed.

"Umm, excuse me, if I could just scoot past…" she said, but the second one pushed her back onto the sidewalk.

"Not so fast, miss. Don't be scared."

"I'm not scared," she said defiantly but raised her bat.

The first one gave an impressed whistle. "Ooh she's got some fight. And a bat. What you gonna do with that, miss? Hit me?" he chuckled and stepped toward her.

She grasped the weapon tighter.

"Would you stop it?" The second one said.

"What's wrong? We can have some fun, can't we?"

"J said don't touch 'em, idiot. You wanna cross J?"

"Well we could—"

"You can't have any," the second said firmly and menacingly. "Stick to business. Is she blonde? I can't tell in this dim lighting…"

"Oh yeah, she's blonde," the first one moved toward her. She could discern a thirsty gaze even beneath his mask. He grabbed her arm. "Looks like his type," he said as he surveyed her hips and butt and even spun her around so quick she couldn't stop him. "And my type."

"What the hell are you doing?" she demanded as she wrested herself from his grip. "Sizing me up like I'm some sort of—type, or whatever you said."

The first one laughed. "Hmph. Looks like she hasn't heard!"

The second one shook his head. "You're in the wrong place at the wrong time, miss. You ain't gonna like what's comin' next."

"I dunno," the first one said, "she looks like she could be kinky."

"What haven't I heard?" she asked, brandishing the bat.

"Calm down, calm down."

"I'm perfectly calm," she said and backed away as the first one reached for her bat. She didn't trust this first thug. He was aggressive, deviant. The other just wanted to get the job done—whatever that was.

"If you're calm then give us your bat," said the second one.

"Tell me what I haven't heard first, then we'll talk."

"Why ruin the fun?" The first one asked. "Hey, we don't have to take her to J. We can just—"

"Harley Quinn's dead. Joker's lookin' for a new girl," the second one said.

"Man, you ruined it!"

It took a few seconds for the news to sink in. Her body went numb and she felt a warm, tingling sensation between her legs. "Looking… for a new… Harley Quinn…" she said dreamily.

The first thug laughed as he saw her excited astonishment. "Told ya she was kinky. She's a little slut. J wouldn't mind if we had some."

The second one probably rolled his eyes but she couldn't quite tell because of the mask. "Would you stop it?"

"Stop what?"

"Making all these rapey comments. No one wants to hang out with a fucking rapist, man."

"What! Screw you man. It's a persona. A personality for the job—hello! We're thugs! We gotta intimidate."

She snorted with laughter.

"What's so funny?" the first one demanded, angry that his partner had called him out in front of her.

"Oh… just the fact that you think you can intimidate anyone."

The first one scowled under his mask while the other chuckled.

"I'll show you something better to do with your mouth, miss."

But the second one arrested his steps before he could come any closer. "Don't. Be. Rapey."

"This bitch deserves it," the first snarled back.

"Deserves it? Man, my niece was raped—that shit ain't funny. Now grab her and let's move."

"With pleasure," and before she knew it, the first thug had disarmed her and had painfully twisted her arms behind her back like a prisoner.

"OW! What the hell are you doing?" she exclaimed as she struggled in pain.

He yanked her body against his and put her hands on his crotch; she could feel his hard cock through his pants. He groped her ass.

"Ew! What the fuck!"

"Don't complain, miss," said the second thug as they made their way across the street and into the Gotham Royal Hotel. "If it was up to my friend here you'd be in a much more uncomfortable position."

"Damn right. I don't like mouthy bitches—but maybe J does."

"Maybe." The second one replied. "But I'm thinkin' he's choosin' off looks alone."

"Then we may have a winner," the first thug said as he surveyed her jealously. "Hey—wait a second, Mr. Anti-rape. J's pickin' one of these girls tonight—and I bet she ain't gonna come willingly."

"That's his business," the second one snarled. "I'm just following orders."

"I'll come willingly," she gasped as the thug held her a lot harder than he needed to, now rubbing her hands up and down on his crotch. "I came here to find Joker. I want to fuck him. Now please—"

The two thugs burst out laughing but the first still didn't unhand her.

"You want to fuck him? Damn—you sure this isn't Harley herself?"

"She's a spitting image for damn sure. Maybe just as kinky too."

"Must be. Is it the makeup that gets you hot, miss?"

They both laughed as they got into an elevator inhabited only by a corpse and tons of $100 dollar bills.

"Partly," she admitted. "It's certainly mysterious not knowing his true face. But no…it's the power…" and the elevator gave an upward lurch to match the butterflies in her stomach. "That and I'm sure he has a massive cock."

The thugs gave each other looks and the second one shrugged as the first unhanded her reluctantly, seeing that she really would come willingly.

"You know J ain't too nice to his girls," the second one said.

"What, no nicer than you all are?" she retorted as she rubbed her aching wrists and tried not to think about the first one's hard cock. "You're friend here wanted to rape me."

"That's ain't past tense, Miss Bitch," the first one replied menacingly. "If J doesn't pick you, you're in trouble."

"Fuck you," she retorted.

"Oh, fuck me?" he asked her. He turned to his buddy, "Fuck me, she says."

"That's what she said."

He turned back to her. "Don't tempt me, miss. Don't tempt me."

The elevator gave a cheerful ding when they'd arrived at the 35th floor. She recognized where they were instantly as the first thug pushed her towards the grand ballroom. Four big thugs stood guarding the huge doors. She eyed them apprehensively.

"Soo… you're taking me to Joker, I presume?" She asked hopefully.

The two thugs she'd came with burst out laughing.

"Haha, hell no. Put her with the others," the first commanded the other four.

"What! Where are you going? I want to see Joker!" She insisted as one of thugs started pulling her towards the ballroom by the torso.

"Sorry, miss. He's busy. He's got mayhem to cause, people to kill—"

"Batman to deal with," added the first thug.

"Whoa, whoa, man, shut up—that idiot ain't here."

"It's only a matter of time, man."

"Don't say that! You know what happens every time he shows up!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get beaten to a pulp and sent back to Blackgate."

"Then shut the hell up!"

"Man, I'm just bein' a realist."

"First you're a rapist, now you're a realist?"

And their voices drowned away as the doors to the ballroom closed with a heavy finality.

She stomped her foot on the ground angrily and clenched her fists in a tiny tantrum. She cursed silently to herself. "Let me outta here!" She banged on the door until it hurt her fist to keep going. She let out a resigned sigh and crossed her arms.

When she turned around to survey the room, she saw 12 or 13 other blondes huddled together in the middle of the room. They'd been so silent she hadn't even noticed them. Half the girls had red eyes from crying. They all looked terrified.

"Umm, hi," she said awkwardly.

They were silent and eyed her apprehensively.

One burst into tears and another one tried to comfort her.

"It's going to be okay," one said.

"N-no its not!" the other one bawled. "That horrible, ugly villain is going to r-r-rape us! And then k-k-kill us!"

_Not if I can help it_, she thought. _I can't have this competition getting in my way_… "It's alright, ladies," she said to the group. "I used to work here and I think I can find a way out."

"Really? No way! You can?" They shouted in unison, their pitiful demeanors brightening up a bit.

"Just give me a second to remember," she told them as she surveyed the room. The only door out of the place was the one guarded by thugs, so escaping out that way wasn't an option. She looked around at the walls and spotted a wide air vent she knew she could fit through. "There!" she exclaimed. "If someone can give me a boost I'll go get help," she lied, not intending to get help at all. Once she made it out of here she was heading straight for Joker.

"I'll help you," one of the stronger looking girls said.

They hurried over to the vent and the girl grunted as she climbed onto her shoulders.

She impressed herself as she tore the vent cover off the wall and climbed in. "Alright! I'll be back in a bit!" she said.

"Okay!" the naïve girls shouted back, looking hopeful.

The vent was just big enough for her to crouch in and she made her way quickly down the dark passageway. After a few minutes she saw a dim light at the end of the tunnel. She peered through the bars of the vent to see where she'd ended up. All she saw was a red carpet, a giant stuffed grizzly bear with a TV on its head, and more $100 dollar bills. She knew she'd have to climb out of the vent before she could find out exactly where she was. After a few kicks she managed to remove the covering and climb out of the small space.

A quick glance told her she was in the West Wing of the hotel. She listened closely for any sound of Joker's men but the coast seemed clear. _Now to find Joker_, she thought, as she climbed out of the vent. _If I was a villain where would I be?_ she asked herself. "The Penthouse," she began to say out loud, but two strong hands covered her mouth and held her still, muffling her screams.

"Quiet," a dark voice ordered. "I'm not here to hurt you."

She looked down and saw the hands that held her were covered in a thick, black, armored material. She saw the shadow on the wall; it was tall, menacing. Two pointy ears stuck up from the top of its head. Batman.

"I need to get you to safety. I'll take my hand off your mouth if you promise to keep quiet."

She nodded enthusiastically to let him know he could trust her. He released her and she whipped around to get a good look at the Batman. He was even taller than she'd expected. She could tell an attractive man was hidden beneath the mask. Sparkling blue eyes shone through the eye slits. His mouth betrayed a serious grimace.

"What?" she asked indignantly as he eyed her with an angry expression.

"Nothing," he retorted quickly. "You just look like someone I used to know."

She was sure he was talking about Harley Quinn so she said so.

Batman grimaced and looked away.

"What happened to her?"

"She was murdered," Batman said darkly.

"By who?" she asked, very interested.

"I'm not sure yet," he said and changed the subject. "Let's go. I'll take you to Captain Gordon," and he hoisted her over his shoulder before she could protest.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Mr. Batman! Wait!" she kicked and struggled, trying to get loose, but his grip was even firmer than the thug's had been. Her wiggling was no use. "He's got more girls in the ballroom," she blurted out.

That got his attention and he dropped her quickly.

"Where?"

"Just through there," she pointed to the vent she'd just escaped from. "It'll lead you straight to them. Joker's gathering girls or—"

"I know what he's doing," he said gruffly. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'll be back with the rest of the girls," and he disappeared through the vent before she had time to lie to him too.

She most certainly was not going to wait until he came back. She clapped her hands together girlishly as she bounced around the corner to the elevator. She pressed the up button and hid around the corner until she saw the elevator was empty. She jumped in and selected floor 60. "Joker here I come!" she screamed as the elevator lurched upwards. She could hardly contain her excitement. Her stomach felt like it was going to burst from all the butterflies.

Floor 55.

Floor 56.

Floor 57.

"Oh fuck," she cursed. The elevator was stopping at floor 58. She hadn't planned for this. She had no weapons, nothing.

The door dinged open happily. To her dismay she was face to face with the thugs who'd first picked her up.

"Well what do we have here?" asked the first one. His hand still clenched her bat. "Someone's been a bad girl and ain't where she's 'sposed to be."

"Thanks for keeping my bat for me. Kindly give it back," she said to cover her disappointment.

"Oh , I'll give it to ya, alright. But it ain't gonna be the way you want."  
"That's it, man. I'm asking for a new partner the first chance I get."

"Come on, Jacobs," the first one argued. "We've been over this—it's just my persona."

"And why don't I believe you, Ted? Tell me right now you wouldn't rape this girl if you had the chance."

Ted was silent.

"See, I told ya."

She tried to press the door close button quietly but Jacobs stuck his hand in the door before it could close all the way. "Not so fast, miss. We gotta take you back down to the ballroom."

"Oh, come on!" she argued. "Just take me to him!"

"If you wanna be J's girl you better start obeying orders, Miss Bitch," Ted snapped. "J don't like to say things twice."

The two thugs climbed into the elevator with her.

She gave them a disgruntled look and crossed her arms.

Just as the door was about to close a voice called Jacobs' name. It was another thug. "Jacobs, J wants to see you."

"What is it?" Jacobs asked.

"How should I know?" the other thug retorted. "Just get your ass outta that elevator and come with me."

"Take me!" she said and grabbed Jacobs' arm.

But Ted grabbed her around the waist and held her in the elevator.

Jacobs rolled his eyes and stepped out. "No funny business, Ted."

"Yeah, sure, definitely," Ted replied unconvincingly.

She watched jealously as the two thugs walked down the hall to meet Joker. The door slowly closed, leaving her alone with creepy Ted.

She turned to him. "Give me my bat."

"No."

"Give me my bat!"

"No."

"Take me to Joker!"

"No!"

"Take me there!"

"NO!" he yelled. "Goddamn you're an annoying bitch."

They spent the rest of the elevator ride in silence.

She was growing to hate the happy ding of the elevator and she winced as the door opened back up to the 35th floor. She almost hoped Batman would be waiting around the corner to kick the crap out of this damned thug but the floor was vacant as they exited the elevator. He led her down the hallway and back around to the entrance to the ballroom. The same four thugs were standing in their same four places as they walked up.

"Hey, ain't we seen this bitch before?" one of them said as they approached.

"Yeah, dumbass. She escaped on your watch."

"What?" he exclaimed.

"Ain't no way she could have escaped," another one said.

"Well she obviously fucking did because she's right fucking here," Ted retorted.

Two thugs pushed open the doors to the ballroom, revealing a room devoid of imprisoned blondes.

"What the fuck," another said.

"They're all gone!"

"I-impossible!"

"You fucking dumbasses!" Ted exclaimed. "J's gonna have your heads for this."

"This ain't our fucking fault, man. It has to be the Bat or somethin'."

"Yeah, it was," she said.

They all turned to her.

"What'd you say?" Ted asked.

She was silent.

"Speak up, bitch! A second ago I couldn't get you to shut up!"

She shrugged. "Yeah I escaped through that vent," she pointed to the far wall, "and then I ran into him on the other side and told him the girls were in here and yeah."

"So it's your fuckin' fault," roared one of the four thugs.

"No," Ted retorted. "It's your fuckin' fault for not watchin' the goddamn prisoners!"

"Well what do we do now?" One of them asked Ted.

"Well first of all there sure as hell ain't no 'we' in this situation. _You_ idiots go look for the Bat," he pointed to three of them. "_You_ go tell Joker what's going on," he said to the odd one out. "_I'll _stay here with this bitch since _you all_ can't guard for shit."

"Whoo-hoo," she said sarcastically.

The other thugs obeyed Ted's orders and disappeared in opposite directions.

After a few moments of silence she said, "Can I have my bat now?"

"If I give it to you will you be a good girl?"

She nodded, loathing his tone.

"And you promise to shut the hell up?"

She nodded and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Fine then," and he handed the striped bat over to her.

"Oh thank you," she said happily. "Now I can do this."

And she hit him over the head with it as hard as she could.

"AAGH!" he roared as his mask flew off and blood ran down the left side of his face. "I'M GONNA FUCKIN' KILL YOU, BITCH!"

He lunged towards her.

She ducked and slammed the bat into his ribs.

He roared in pain but mostly in fury.

She went to avoid his next blow but fucked up and his fist hit her across the face really fucking hard, knocking her to the ground and the bat out of her hands. He kicked her in the stomach and she couldn't scream for the loss of air. She wheezed.

"That was a big mistake, slut," he said in a dark voice.

She'd have to agree. She really regretted this last minute of her life; she'd thought she could take him. She couldn't see what he was doing but she figured it out when she heard the sound of his zipper. He flipped her over and punched her in the face again. He'd hit her in the mouth and she could taste her own blood. He shoved his mouth against hers anyway, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She bit it.

"YOU THUCKING THLUT!" he exclaimed as his mouth filled with blood. He dropped the bat and punched her in the face again. Her body went limp. One more punch and she'd knew she'd pass out. She still didn't regret biting him though.

The thug saw she was almost done and dropped his pants to his ankles and crawled on top of her, pulling up her skirt and trying to push her panties to the side.

She struggled with what strength she had left but he had a lot more than she did. He pinned her hands above her head and ripped off her shirt with the other.

"Let's see how you like gettin' bit, huh?" and he sunk his teeth into her right breast.

She screamed in pain but managed to knee him in the groin. She tried to crawl away and reach for the bat but he grabbed her legs and pulled her back towards him.

This was it, he was about to put it in her and there was nothing she could do.

But then the door to the ballroom burst open with a loud creak and two figures walked in. She couldn't see who it was; her head was spinning with all the blows she'd taken, not to mention her breast throbbed in pain.

The thug straightened up quick when he was who it was. His face betrayed a look of horror. He pulled his pants up as fast as he could, as if he could cover up what was happening.

The two figures moved closer, one in front of the other. It looked like the first one was wearing a purple suit. He was the one who spoke first. "Now what is going on here?" he snarled.

Ted faltered and stammered for a few moments before he could formulate a sentence. "This bitch hit me with the bat and then a struggle ensued and I had to hit her a few times and—"

"How many times have I told you?" the menacing voice hissed. Ted shrunk away from the towering figure. "How many times have I ordered you NOT TO RAPE! YOU KNOW HOW I HATE THAT! THESE WOMEN BELONG TO ME!"

Ted cowered away like a wounded dog. "Well, sir, it wasn't rape 'cus I never actually got it in."

There was a moment of silence where the man in charge just stared at Ted. He turned to the other figure. "Jacobs, what does this look like to you?" he pointed to her limp body on the floor.

"It looks like attempted rape, sir," he answered.

"Jacobs, come on, man, you know I'm—"

"A fucking rapist," Joker finished for him. He took his revolver out of his belt and cocked it.

"Boss, please, don't," Ted begged, holding up his hands in surrender.

The tall man laughed a heartless laugh sprinkled with pure glee. "I'm sure that's what this girl said too, isn't it, Ted?"

"Boss, please, give me another chance."

But the revolver went off and the thug's heavy body collapsed to the ground.

She let out a whimper.

"It's alright, my sweet," the tall man knelt down next to her.

Now she could see it was him. In all his evil glory. The Joker.

He wiped some of the blood from her mouth with his gloved hand. The purple leather was soft and cool on her throbbing wound. He straightened her clothing for her, protecting her modesty. She grabbed his arm and squeezed it, never wanting to let go. "Don't worry, darling. You're safe now," and he gave her a wide, wicked smile. "See, I've killed him," and he gestured to Ted's lifeless body.

"It's… not that…" she whispered. "_I_ wanted to be the one to kill him."

Joker burst out laughing. "Oh, I like _her_," he said to Jacobs. "Get her to the car," he ordered.

Jacobs stepped forward and picked her up. She didn't let go of Joker's arm.

"Not to worry, my sweet," he hissed. "You're coming to my place," and he gently made her release her grip and caressed her face once more. For a few moments she looked into his eyes and he into hers. There was something there, each of them thought. And then the green-haired, purple-clad villain disappeared from sight, the smell of his cologne lingering after him. She closed her eyes to Jacobs' rhythmic strides, the image of that beautiful villain swimming before her, and fell out of consciousness.


	2. The Penthouse

Chapter Two

When she opened her eyes she had no idea where she was. The only thing she knew for certain was that someone had placed her in a very comfortable bed and her face and breast hurt like hell. But after a few seconds, yesterday's events came flooding back to her: the newscast, the Gotham Royal Hotel, the Batman, the attempted rape, and, most importantly, the Joker.

She flipped over to look at the other side of the bed, hoping to see him lying there, preferably naked. But she was alone. She prayed Joker hadn't ditched her. _Where was he_? she wondered. She was still in her blood-stained clothes from yesterday, but she saw that someone had laid out a new outfit for her on the bedside table. It was a red and black dress. She liked it.

She jumped up and out of bed with excitement but groaned when she felt the soreness from yesterday's beating. She didn't think anything was broken, but she was going to be bruised for a while. She took off her shirt to survey the hideous bite mark. Someone had cleaned the wound, she hoped it'd been Joker, but it still looked awful. The marks from the thug's teeth were clearly discernable and she could see the pink and red tissue of her insides. The wound was surrounded by deep purple and blue bruises. She grimaced and rose from the edge of the bed.

She looked around the room. The bare walls were of dark mahogany and so was the bed frame. It was a king-size, four-poster bed with red curtains that one could draw around it for privacy. She saw that on the headboard were words written in red, maybe blood, maybe not. They read "DO NOT DISTURB." The room was devoid of windows but she noticed three doors on the other side of the room. She opened one, revealing a closet filled with an assortment of red and black clothing. She furrowed her brow. Was she in Harley Quinn's room? She shut the door, not wanting to look at all the clothes that weren't hers, and opened the next door.

It was a bathroom. A really, really nice bathroom; almost bigger than the bedroom itself. The tiled floor was solid black, as were the countertops. A huge bathtub, bigger than an average jacuzzi, sunk down into the floor and dominated the room. A shower with four separate showerheads sat in the corner. It looked incredibly inviting, and before she knew it, she was naked and in there. Never in her life could she remember taking a more refreshing shower. Water at the perfect temperature soaked her from every direction, cleansing her of the sweat and spit of that disgusting thug. It even came complete with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Each of them had a minty scent and the memory of Joker's smell came rushing back to her. She almost swooned and fell over as she inhaled the scent. Remembering him.

A red towel was hanging right by the shower and she used it to dry off. She wrapped her hair in it and wandered over to the counter to look at what it had to offer. She found an assortment of makeup and girly stuff in one drawer and boyish stuff in the other. _So Joker did stay in this room_, she thought. She surveyed herself in the mirror, her eyes lingering over her busted lip, but she looked pretty good, considering.

She heard a door open. She let out a yelp, naked and unready for any visitors. Was it Joker? She wasn't ready for him either! She probably looked like a drowned rat. The thought crossed her mind that she had probably looked a lot worse yesterday when he'd seen her for the first time. Even when she was all disheveled and bleeding he'd still liked her.

She crept to the door leading back to the bedroom and peeked her head around the corner to see who the intruder was. It was the thug they called Jacobs.

He let out a yell when he saw the top half of her naked body peering around the corner.

"I-I'm sorry, miss," he stammered, hiding his eyes. "I expected you'd be sleepin'. I should'a knocked."

"Yeah, you should have," she said, "but I'll let this one slide."

"There's a robe here for you, miss," he said and opened the closet and blindly handed her the robe that was hanging on the other side of the door, continuing to block his eyes.

"Thanks," she said as she put on the robe. "Okay, you can look now," she let him know. "Where's Joker?" she asked him apprehensively.

"Doin' business," he said. "He told me to take care of you 'til he gets back."

Her heart gave a giant leap. He would be coming back to see her! So he hadn't just dumped her somewhere. This had to be his place. "Is this his house?" she asked, just to make sure.

Jacobs nodded. "One of 'em, yeah. He's got hideouts all over the city."

_Of course he did_, she thought. _You can't run a criminal empire without multiple hideouts. _

"Do you know _when_ he'll be back?" she asked. After her long hunt yesterday she'd only been able to see him for a few seconds. He was like some illusive ghost, hovering on the edge of her reality; not yet solidified, not yet completely real.

Jacobs shrugged. "Hard to say, miss. He don't spend too much time here."

"Well he slept here last night, didn't he?"

He shook his head. "Nah, boss hardly ever sleeps. Twice a week maybe. But I'm sure he'll be back soon to see how you're doing. Speaking of, how _are_ you doing? You look well, considering."

"My thoughts exactly," she laughed. She liked Jacobs. "I'm kind of starving but other than that I'm fine."

"Just tell me what you want, miss, and I'll go get it."

"What like groceries or takeout or…?"

"Anything," Jacobs replied. "Money ain't a question and you're Joker's girl now. You get anything you want."

She liked the sound of that: _Joker's girl_.

She prayed she'd never wake up from this dream. "Well in that case I'll have sushi. 8 tuna sashimi, 8 white tuna sashimi, seaweed salad, miso soup, and 2 tuna rolls, please!"

Jacobs smiled. "Damn, sushi for breakfast?" he laughed. "Well your wish is my command, miss."

She liked the sound of that too. "Oh and could you stop by the store and get orange juice—not from concentrate—, plain Greek yogurt, a cantaloupe, a 12 pack of cokes, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and… some tampons?" she wasn't on her period now, thankfully, but if she was going to stay here she needed to be prepared.

Jacobs smiled again. "We already got the ice cream, it's J's favorite, and we already got the tampons under the sink."

"I don't want to use a dead woman's tampons…"she said.

Jacobs looked confused. "It's not like they were ever in her vagina…"

They looked at each other for a few moments and then burst out laughing.

"But if you want new tampons I'll get them for you," Jacobs chuckled.

"Can I go with you?" she asked, not too keen on staying in the new house by herself.

He shrugged. "Lemme call J to see if it's alright and if so, yes you can come."

Jacobs removed himself from the room to call Joker and let her change.

As soon as the door closed she ran and jumped on the bed like a little kid in a hotel room. Overnight all of her wildest dreams had come true. She disrobed and put on the dress that had been laid out for her. It fit her perfectly and looked rather sexy. It had a sweetheart top that made her boobs look great despite the bite mark. The dress was tight right where it needed to be, around her waist, and then flowed down smoothly over her hips and ended right above the knee. She did a few sexy poses in the mirror, fixed up her hair, and then left the bedroom to explore the rest of the house.

The bedroom door opened to a large kitchen into which spilled the bright noonday sun. Jacobs stood by one of the big windows with his back turned to her. His body language changed as she entered the room but he didn't turn away from the window. She peered out the window on the other side of the room to give herself an idea of her whereabouts. The penthouse overlooked the Gotham River. She saw the Steel Mill in the distance and knew they were somewhere in the Industrial District.

"No, sir," Jacobs said into the phone. "Yes, sir. Yes, sir," he said at intervals as she browsed around the kitchen.

Before she could do too much browsing, she heard Jacobs hang up the phone and turn away from the window with a sigh. "Sorry, miss. J says you gotta stay here."

"Why?" she exclaimed indignantly, suddenly feeling like a prisoner in the penthouse.

"Cus of Harley's murder," Jacobs said. "Boss is pretty on edge. He don't want you gettin' hurt."

Well if her temporary imprisonment was for her own safety she could deal with that. "Sooo what happened to Harley?" she fished, taking a seat at the kitchen table and resting her chin on her hands, eagerly awaiting the answers Batman had failed to give her.

Jacobs sighed and shook his head. "Pretty awful stuff, miss. I wouldn't want to cloud your head with it."

"No, please do," she insisted, her eyes widening.

Jacobs looked surprised but didn't protest. "The Bat fuckin' murdered her. Shot her."

Her jaw dropped comically. "W-what? H-how?" she stammered. "Batman doesn't murder! Or use guns!" she exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yeah, that's what we all thought," Jacobs answered gravely.

"You sure it was Batman?" she asked, suddenly wanting to defend the dark vigilante.

"Saw it with my own eyes," he replied. "Normal day, doin' a deal, and the Bat came outta nowhere. Fuckin' shot her dead, right there in front 'a me…" his voice trailed off and his eyes turned all misty. "I keep tellin' myself there was somethin' I could'a done," he turned back towards the window to hide his face.

She didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected the conversation to take this sudden somber turn. She decided to change the subject. "Is Ted dead?"

Jacobs chuckled. "I mean I didn't check his body but he looked pretty dead to me. Stupid motherfucker…" There was a moment of silence where neither of them spoke. "Well, uh, I guess I'm off to get you something to eat. Here's your new cell phone," and he handed her a brand new IPhone that was far nicer than any phone she'd ever had. "J's numbers in there. So is mine. Call me if you need anything. TV's right over there," he pointed across the room, "we got Netflix, Xbox, cable, blah blah blah, all that stuff," he told her. "Now I know I'm a nice guy but I'm gonna get fuckin' serious for a second."

She widened her eyes with no idea what was coming next.

"Stay. In. The. Apartment." he said firmly. "If you go missin', take a wild guess who J's gonna blame and probably kill."

She bit her lip. "You?"

"Yes, me. And I don't wanna end up like Ted. You got me?"

She nodded.

He grabbed his clown mask and was out the door without another word.

She listened to his footsteps fade slowly down the hallway and she sighed as a heavy silence settled in around her. She mulled over what Jacobs had told her. He seemed pretty convinced the Bat had done it. But if Batman had committed the murder, why had he been at the Gotham Royal Hotel investigating? True, she and Batman weren't old chums or anything, but after talking to him for a few seconds she could tell he wasn't the murdering type. So what the hell was going on here?

She sure as hell didn't know. She looked down at her phone and explored it for a few minutes until she got bored. She was tempted to text the Joker but what the hell would she say? Her mind was still swimming with the murderer Batman rumor so she bounced over to the TV and turned it on to take her mind off it. And to her utter astonishment and dismay, a picture of herself covered the screen, smiling back her.

"Oh fuck," she cursed. She turned up the volume and listened intently to the female announcer.

_-In Gotham the search continues for a young woman who disappeared from the Gotham Royal Hotel late yesterday afternoon. Video surveillance shows Marley Lynns entering the building with two thugs, undoubtedly her kidnappers—_

The screen cut to a video of her, Ted, and Jacobs entering the building. The video had caught the exact moment when Ted had disarmed her and held her hands behind her back. She had to admit it definitely looked like a kidnapping.

_-Thanks to the Batman, there were amazingly no casualties at the Gotham Royal, despite severe vandalism by the Joker crime syndicate. All hostages are accounted for except for Marley Lynns. Here is the image again—_

And the same smiling picture of her from about a year ago filled the screen once more.

_-Gotham Police believe Lynns has been kidnapped by Joker and his men. Please call the GCPD if you have any information regarding the crime. You will be awarded for any information that leads to an arrest. Once again, that's Marley Ly—_

She clicked the TV off, having heard enough. It took a few moments for the news to sink in. So she was officially missing. That meant people were looking for her; more importantly, it meant Batman was looking for her. But the news that she was missing wasn't the only surprising thing the news caster had told her. These words ran through her head: "_No casualties at the Gotham Royal." _

"No casualties?" she said out loud. Hadn't they found Ted's body? Her heart beat quickened and she jumped up from the couch, suddenly paranoid. If Ted was alive, he certainly knew where Joker may be keeping her, right? She ran over to the door and made sure it was locked. But wouldn't he have a key? She could feel her face growing hot with panic. Ted would most certainly be looking for revenge. And then it donned on her. Ted was the least of her worries. What she really needed to be worrying about was Batman. If he thought she was a hostage, he'd most definitely be looking for her. And there was no way in hell she would let him drag her away from Joker. She looked out the window and remembered it was still daylight outside. She didn't need to start worrying about Batman until after the sun went down—she hoped…

She almost jumped out of her skin as a panicked pounding sounded from the other side of the front door. She let out a yelp, tried to stifle it, but it was too late.

A male voice yelled through the door. "Jacobs!" the voice was followed by intense knocking. "JACOBS!" the voice bellowed. "Let us in, man, it's an emergency!"

She crept to the door as slowly and quietly as possible and peered through the peep hole. She gasped when she saw the grisly scene on the other side. There were 8 or 9 thugs huddled in the hallway. Each thug toted a clown mask but the crew was disheveled and bloodied, two were even lying on the ground, dead or dying. The thug in front had his mask pushed up onto the top of his head to reveal his face. He was handsome despite having what looked like a broken nose that was still streaming thick, dark blood down his chin and onto his neck.

"FUCKIN' LET US IN!" he screamed, pounding on the door. "I CAN SEE YOUR SHADOW!"

"No you can't!" she yelled back.

"LET US FUCKIN' IN! LET US FUCKIN' IN! LET US FUCKIN' IN!" he repeated over and over.

Her mind raced. Jacobs had said she couldn't leave the penthouse but could she let people in? They were Joker's guys so that was okay right? And they looked like they needed some serious help.

"Is Ted with you?" she asked apprehensively.

"Who the fuck is Ted?"

That was good enough for her. "I'll let you in if you say please."

The main thug gave her and incensed look through the peephole. "PLEASE, BITCH, PLEASE!" he hollered.

She swung the door open and the gang of bloodied thugs came tumbling in.

The first thug didn't look at her but began barking orders to his inferiors. "Get Frank up on the table," he told half the thugs. "Set Barney on the couch," he ordered the others, "his wound ain't as bad."

The thug who must have been named Barney limped into the room supported by two other thugs. "Steele, I'm just as fuckin' wounded as Frank," he said as he limped through the kitchen towards the living room. He had taken a bullet in the thigh.

"No you ain't, man," replied the thug he'd called Steele. "You can kinda walk—look at Frank."

Frank did not look good at all. He wasn't even conscious and his face was deathly pale. A nasty bullet wound was evident in the middle of his belly when one of the other thugs pulled up his shirt to get a look at it. Blood seeped out of it with each beat of his heart.

"Frank's weak," retorted Barney sulkily as the other thugs set him on the couch in front of the TV. "Come on, guys, at least pass me the remote!" One of the thugs stopped before walking away and handed it to him. "Thanks," Barney said, and turned on the TV and started flipping channels as if he'd forgotten about the bullet in his leg.

Steele continued barking orders. "_You _put your hands on Frank's belly to stop the bleeding. _You _talk to him and try to get him to wake up. _You_ call J and tell him what happened. _You_ call Jacobs and let him know we're here and ask him where the hell _he_ is. _You_ call Dr. Crane and get him over here."

"That guy ain't a doctor—he's a psychiatrist," argued one of the thugs whose right eye was bleeding.

"Well he's the only doctor we got so shut the hell up and call him!" retorted Steele. "You," he pointed to her, "Go get two rags for their bullet wounds."

"What happened?" she asked.

"What does it look like?" Steele snapped.

"It looks like somebody made cake outta your boys."

"Hardy-har-har. Now go get a fuckin' rag—Frank's dyin'!"

"Who attacked you?"

"Who do you think? The fuckin' Bat! Beat the hell outta us and shot Frank and Barney."

"Thanks for including me," Barney yelled from across the room, having settled on Family Feud.

She furrowed her brow in disbelief. "I don't think it was Batman."

"It was."

"When I saw him the other day he didn't have a gun."

"I don't care what you think you saw! Get a rag or something to stop the bleeding!"

"You're the one who needs a rag—you're on your fucking period or something…" she murmured and moseyed on over to the bathroom with no particular urgency. _Damn_, she thought to herself, _this is an eventful morning_. First she learned she was Joker's girlfriend, then she figured out she was missing, and now a horde of thugs was taking up the kitchen with their bleeding. She wondered if this meant Joker would be back soon. She sure hoped so. All this excitement was making her horny.

When she wandered back into the kitchen with two red rags she saw that one of the thugs was still struggling to revive the unconscious Frank. "Frank, buddy. You hear me? Frank. Frank. Frank! FRANK! FRAAAANK!" the thug shook his head. "Steele it's no use, man. I think he's dead."

"He's not fuckin' dead, Rubio," Steele spat, checking Frank's pulse. He snatched the rag out of her hand without a thank you and pressed it against the bullet wound.

She gave Steele a dirty look and walked over to the living room to give Barney the other rag.

"Oh, thank you, bitch-I-don't-know," he said with a smile.

"Marley," she said.

"Thanks, Marley-who-I-now-know," he said. He raised his voice so Steele could hear, "It's nice to be taken care of with the attention that's due to me…" he didn't wait for a reply, however, but started yelling "Pig! Pig! Oh you dumbass how could you not guess pig?" at the TV.

"Fuck," cursed Steele, "Crane better get here fuckin' quick," he said, surveying Frank with a worried expression.

"You need to boil some milk, soak bread in it, and then put the bread in the bullet hole," she told him.

"What so I can infect the wound for him?" Steele replied with some venom.

"No, idiot, it will draw out the infection while simultaneously stopping the bleeding."

"That's asinine."

"I've heard that bread thing works!" yelled Barney from the next room. "I'll take some bread in my hole!"

Marley rolled her eyes at Steele, smiled at what Barney said, walked over to the refrigerator, found milk, and started boiling it on the stove. She could add saving someone's life to the list of things she'd done today.

The thug attempting to revive Frank, whose name was apparently Rubio, had graduated from screaming in Frank's face to slapping Frank's face. This, unsurprisingly, still failed to bring Frank out of his lifeless state.

"I said wake him up not slap him around!" Steele exclaimed when he saw what Rubio was doing.

"He ain't responding to shit!" Rubio retorted. "I think he's dead."

"HE AIN'T FUCKIN' DEAD!" Steele exclaimed again once he'd checked his pulse. "But if he does die, I'm gonna punch you in the face."

"What? Why?" cried Rubio.

"Cus you ain't even fuckin' trying to save him! You never liked Frank!"

"Do you fuckin' see what I'm doing right now?" Rubio slapped Frank's face intermittently. "Do you see this? Hm? I'm fuckin' trying to wake him up."

"You fuckin' idiot," and Steele lunged towards Rubio and the next thing Marley knew the two thugs were brawling in the middle of the kitchen.

She liked watching men fight, so she didn't try to stop it. Neither did any of the other thugs.

"Kick his ass, Rubio!" yelled Barney from the living room without taking his attention away from the TV.

Steele managed to punch Rubio in the face a few times before Rubio could counter by flipping Steele onto the floor. Rubio kicked Steele in the stomach. Steele kicked Rubio in the knee, making it bend an unnatural direction. Rubio screamed, collapsed, and the two started rolling around on the ground. One of the other thugs got bored and joined Barney on the couch watching Family Feud. Steele managed to get on top of Rubio and wrap his hands around his neck to choke him out.

The brawling thugs had caused such a commotion that no one noticed when the door open and a tall, pale figure stepped into the room.

Marley watched the thugs absent mindedly but then felt someone grope her ass. She turned, ready to throw the pot of boiling milk in their face. But before she could, the strong arm grabbed her around the waste and pulled her towards him. She gasped in surprise as she was face to face with the Joker.

He looked down at her with a crooked smile. "Hi," is all he said.

She faltered for a few moments and "Hi" was all she said too, except much more breathlessly.

They stared at each other for a few moments, broken only by Joker screaming at the thugs, "Get off each other or I'll cut your FUCKING HANDS OFF!"

She'd never heard a man say anything sexier in her life.

With his free hand he tilted her chin up towards him. "How are you feeling?" His green eyes glistened.

She bit her lip and shrugged. "Umm, I'd be doing a lot better if I could get something from you."

"What's that?"

She answered him by rubbing his crotch, pressing her body against his.

"Mmmm," and his smile widened.

His cock rose fast and she could feel the rock hardness of it through his trousers. She moaned, unable to stifle it.

"Shhhh," he cooed, perhaps not wanting the thugs to see her so aroused. "Go to the bedroom and get yourself ready."

"I'm already ready." And she wasn't lying. Her pussy was already tingling with anticipation and she was positive she'd never been so wet in her life. Her nipples were hard and he eyed them through her dress, pinching one. Once again, it was hard for her to stifle her moan of pleasure.

He smiled the satisfied smile of a man who knew he was about to have amazing sex with a girl who couldn't have been more willing. "Oh the things I'm going to do to _you_," he said with a wicked smile.

Her heart burned in her chest and she started pulling him towards the bedroom by his belt. He happily complied. But their progress was halted by Steele.

"Boss, Frank's dyin'. He needs a doctor."

"Who's Frank?" Joker asked, not taking his lustful eyes off her.

"Frank Josephine…" Steele answered desperately. "He's worked for you for like 4 years…"

"Have you called Scarecrow?" he asked absentmindedly, now completely distracted as she had started rubbing his long cock through his pants. Her mouth was watering, dying to get a taste of it.

"Yeah, we called him but—"

"Is he on his way?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Then why THE FUCK are you still talking to me?" Joker snapped. He was now leaning on the wall as she rubbed his cock; it felt so good it made his legs weak.

"I mean there seems to be some pretty important shit happenin' out here—we ran into the Bat—and instead you're just payin' attention to this bitch—"

The Joker cut him off by bitchslapping him across the face.

Steele was knocked back a few feet and held his face in his hands, eyes wide with shock and fear.

Joker pushed her hands away from his crotch reluctantly and turned to his thugs who were now all paying close attention, even Barney. "Let me make something exceedingly clear to you fuck-ups," he said with deathly seriousness. "The only person who can call this bitch 'bitch' is me. Isn't that right, bitch?"

She nodded, trying not to laugh.

He turned back to the thugs. "Let me make something else clear to you idiots." He cleared his throat and straightened his tie, "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT FRANK! What I do give a fuck about is fucking the shit outta this girl. Now why don't you all go back to your usual business—sitting around with your thumbs up your asses! And let me guess," he added, "my bitch is the one who started boiling that milk on the stove?"

All the thugs were silent and refused to make eye contact with Joker, especially Steele.

"I thought so," he continued. "And since you thugs can't think for yourselves, I'll spell out in thug-speak for you what you _should _be doing before Scarecrow gets here: get some goddamn bread, soak it in the goddamn milk, put it in the goddamn bullet holes, sit goddamn down, watch goddamn Family Feud, and wait for goddamn Scarecrow. Do you FUCKING understand me?" he asked them.

They all nodded, remaining silent.

"Good," he smiled pleasantly, his mind back on sex. "And if anyone knocks on this door," he switched back to his serious tone, "I'll cut your goddamn eyeballs out. Don't disturb us—I don't care how much screaming you hear."

And with that, Joker swung open the door to the bedroom, grabbed her by the hair, pulled her into the room, and slammed the door behind them.

Once they were alone, Joker wasted no time. He hoisted her up onto him, wrapped her legs around his waist, and thrust her hard up against the door. His mouth met hers with the ferocity of someone ravished. He tasted delicious, almost sweet. She bit his lip playfully and he laughed, biting hers back. He pulled her dress down to reveal her ample, pale breasts, the nipples a light pink.

"Mmmm," he moaned as he surveyed her with lustful eyes.

"You want to suck them?" she asked breathlessly.

"And bite them," he answered.

"Do it."

And she screamed with pleasure as he bit her nipples, flicking them with his tongue intermittently. He used one hand to hold whichever breast he was sucking and slid the other between her legs, fingering her.

"Fuck," he exclaimed when he felt her, "you're so fucking wet."

She moaned as his fingers slid into her pussy.

"Mmmm, and tight," he exclaimed, impressed. He relished the sight of her squirm as he forced one, two, three, and then four fingers into her, knowing he had to loosen up her tight pussy before he could fit his cock in.

She gasped and moaned as his long fingers caressed her g-spot. "Fuck, fuck," she murmured as she buried her face in his warm neck and entwined her fingers in his wild green hair. She was so lost in the pleasure that she hadn't noticed Joker had carried her over to the bed. He threw her down.

"Take of your dress," he commanded.

"Yes, sir," she said with a playful smile. She could tell he liked that because even through his pants she could see his cock rise suddenly when she said it.

She was down to her panties in about two seconds flat and moved towards Joker who still stood at the edge of the bed, admiring her curves as she crawled towards him. His boner was bulging through his pants and she eyed it thirstily. He made no move to take off his own clothes, so she reached for his belt and pulled it off, slinging it across the room where it landed with a hollow clank. He pinched both her nipples as she unzipped his pants. She gasped when she saw his cock. It was the biggest and thickest schlong she had ever had the pleasure of seeing. When she'd pulled down his pants, it had revealed its full size. It must have been at least 10 inches. But the best part was that it had a wicked curve; she knew it'd hit her in all the right spots. Her jaw dropped as she stared at it, bouncing before her enticingly.

She looked up at him as she grasped the gigantic member in both hands which still didn't cover it all. She smiled and licked her lips deviously. "I knew your cock was huge."

He smiled his wicked smile. "Suck it for me."

And she obeyed, wrapping her lips around the head of his penis. She moaned as she tasted his sweet and sticky pre-cum. Before she could get more of it into her mouth, his hands were entwined in hair and he forced her to swallow more of his cock. He moaned as she allowed it to reach deep down her throat. He moved it in, out, in, out, until she couldn't breath and had to pull away, chocking, leaving it glistening with her spit.

He laughed. "Too big for you?"

"Maybe a little," she answered with a smile, her eyes watering slightly from taking it so deep.

"Bend over," he ordered.

And she did, ready and eager to take it in doggy.

He slapped her fat ass and she moaned, "Mm, I like that." And so he did it again, and again, and again, relishing in her moans, watching as the white flesh turned a light pink and then rosy red at each blow of his hand.

"Again?" he asked with his hand raised.

"Yes!" she said breathlessly. Her ass was on fire but she loved the intense pleasure of it.

And so he smacked her ass again and again.

Finally, when he saw little blue bruises appearing, he spread apart her pussy with his thumbs and made ready to stick his thick, throbbing cock into her.

"Mmm, fuck, I want it so bad," she moaned as she watched him take the huge member in his hand to guide it in.

Her eyes widened and she screamed as she felt him force it into her tight pussy. He moaned too. "Fuck," he exclaimed, "I've never felt anything so tight." And he began thrusting in and out, deeper and deeper, harder and harder, holding her by the hips for increased leverage. The cock reached so far into her she could feel it in her belly. The wicked curve pounded into her g-spot with a ferocity and speed she had never felt before.

The volume and frequency of her moans increased with each thrust and she begged him not to stop. He could tell she was getting close to her climax and he grabbed her hair near the root and pulled her body up towards his. He bit her ear and pinched her tits and she moaned and screamed with wild pleasure. He thrust harder and harder, making her scream louder and louder, as his wicked curve pounded deeper and deeper.

"OOH FUCK," she moaned as an orgasm burst throughout her entire body, making her clit ultra-sensitive to his every move.

Once she'd come, he continued fucking her mercilessly, determined to get his.

It didn't take long, however, as her screams and playful moves to escape his grasp only served to make him hornier and hornier. He bit and sucked her neck, groaning when his orgasm arrived, intense and lengthy. She could feel his come, deep and hot inside her. He pulled out with a final moan and they both collapsed onto the bed, sweaty, exhausted, and completely satiated—for now.


	3. The Trap

Chapter 3:

They lay there in silence for a few minutes while they caught their breath. She laid her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist. They fit together perfectly. Because he was so tall, he'd at first looked thin to her eyes. But once he'd taken off his shirt, jacket, and tie, sweaty from sex, she realized he was extremely fit. His pale chest was perfectly chiseled and he even had a six pack. She tried to eye him without him noticing but she could tell he did by the way he smiled back at her.

"What's your name?" he asked after a few moments as he made little circles with his fingers on her bare hips.

"Marley Lynns," she answered.

His chest rose suddenly with a chuckle. "It would be, wouldn't it?"

Even she had to agree it was a funny coincidence.

As she lay against his chest she listened for his heartbeat but she couldn't hear anything. She only heard the airy sound of breath going in and out of his lungs.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

A low growl rumbled in Joker's throat and through his chest. It made her head vibrate. "What?" he called towards the door.

A voice she hadn't heard before answered. "Joker, it's me," the voice sounded irritated like it had other, more important things to do.

Joker waited on the voice to speak again but there was only silence. "My silence is your queue, Crane," Joker called back, irritated.

_So the voice must belong to Scarecrow_, she thought. She'd heard all about him on the news but she never thought she'd get to meet him. She wondered who else she'd get to meet while hanging out with Joker and his gang.

Crane gave a huff at Joker's sarcastic response. "We got a problem out here," he called through the door. "You better come take a look."

"If it has to do with Frank I don't give a shit."

"It does but there's a bit more to it than that," Crane said cryptically and moved away from the door.

Joker sighed. "Business calls, my sweet."

"Aww," she said, "but I wanted you to eat me out."

He laughed. "Well we still have tonight, don't we? And the next day, and the next day…"

"I suppose," she said, crossing her arms sulkily.

He smiled at her horniness as he rose from the bed and put his boxers and trousers back on. "Let's go deal with this Batman problem. Get dressed," he told her. "And then, tonight…" he said as he pinched one of her nipples, making her squirm and smile. "Mmm, I love watching you try to get away from me," and with that he grabbed her legs and pulled her to the edge of the bed and began eating her pussy, unable to help himself.

She'd had guys eat her out before but none of them could do it like Joker. She screamed as he licked her clit. "Don't do that!" she squealed.

"Why not?" he demanded, his voice muffled between her legs. He deliberately did it again.

"Because!" she screamed. "It's too sensitive! It's too much!" she squirmed every which way, trying to get away from him playfully.

"I'll do what I want with your pussy," and he held her tighter so she couldn't wiggle away.

She screamed louder, helpless in his grasp, and entwined her fingers in his wild green hair. When it got too intense, she tried pushing his head away with her hands.

"Don't make me tie you up," he threatened in a dark voice and she entwined her fingers in her own hair to keep herself from pushing him away. In a twisted way, she sort of wanted him to tie her up. And with that thought, coupled with Joker's skillful tongue, she reached her second orgasm of the day.

"Mmm," he said as he watched her arch her back in wild pleasure. "You're so sexy," he growled and before she knew it his pants were back off, his rock hard boner throbbing, and he was ramming her once more, this time in missionary. His cock seemed to reach even further inside her in this position as she put her legs up on his shoulders. He started slow at first, easing it in and out of her.

"Oh fuck, your cock…" she moaned.

He bent over her and kissed her hard, putting his hand on her neck and applying a bit of pressure. "Your pussy is amazing…" and he increased his speed. "But it's my pussy, isn't it?"

At first she didn't reply, too wrapped up in her own pleasure, but he stopped his thrusting, holding his cock deep inside her. "Tell me it's my pussy," he ordered in a dark voice.

"It's yours," she gasped as he went full speed once more.

"I want to hear you say those words," he demanded, not slowing his pace.

"It's… your… pussy," she gasped, taking his cock like a boss—she doubted most girls could stand this amount of poundage.

Hearing her say those words brought him to his climax and he came deep down inside her. They fell back onto the bed, catching their breath all over again. She sucked on his chest, making a hickey, for a few minutes until there was another knock on the door.

"We'll be out in a second," Joker told them, answering much more amiably this time after being satiated by sex a second time.

"I just want Miss Marley to know I have her sushi," Jacobs' voice called through the door.

"Sushi?" Joker furrowed his brow and gazed at her with a confused expression.

She laughed, "Yeah, I asked him to get me sushi 'cus I was hungry. Thanks, Jacobs!" she called back towards the door.

"No problem, miss," Jacobs replied and moved away from the door.

"I'm not even going try to figure that one out," Joker said. "Get dressed," he ordered.

"Are we really going to this time?" she asked playfully.

"Yes," he replied humorlessly. "I can't spend all day fucking you."

"You can't?"

"I _could_," he replied with a smile, "but I _won't_," he said as he put his boxers and trousers on a second time. "Sometimes running a crime syndicate can get so… tedious," he said as he tightened his tie.

She put on her dress like he told her. "Do you really think its Batman that's been doing all this stuff?" she asked.

"He's been after me for years," Joker answered, shrugging. "Maybe he's ready to really start playing the game."

She was silent, not wanting to upset him, but she definitely had her reservations about his theory.

When they finally made their way out of their fuck palace, the thug they called Frank lay in pieces on the kitchen table. It looked like someone had performed an autopsy; his chest was cut open to reveal his lungs and his heart. A normal girl would have been thoroughly disturbed, but she moved towards her sushi which Jacobs offered her, incredibly hungry from all the sex. She began eating it ravenously, surveying the dead body with interest.

She loved how everywhere Joker went he demanded attention and respect. When they'd stepped into the room all the thugs suddenly started to pay attention to him in anticipation of their next order. Some of the thugs eyed her with thirsty looks in their eyes but made sure to hide it from Joker. They wouldn't dare let slip that they thought she was attractive, especially after what had happened to Ted.

"Well what the hell is going on out here?" Joker asked an urbane, well-dressed, professional-looking man with a briefcase.

_This must be Scarecrow_, she thought. He was good looking with sharp, intelligent eyes. Joker surveyed the butchered body.

"You know you were supposed to try and save him, right? Not that it's too big of a loss… What was his name again? Banks? Fred?"

"Frank," answered Steele sulkily from the corner.

"Oh, yes, Frank," Joker said, "I was close wasn't I?"

Steele didn't reply.

"He was dead when I got here," Scarecrow began, "so I started fishing around in his abdomen for the bullet and found something interesting."

"It'd better be," Joker said, yawning.

Scarecrow bent over the body to show Joker the gnarly belly wound. "The bullet entered here," he pointed to the left side of Frank's stomach, "but when I tried to retrieve it, it was nowhere to be found. Instead," Scarecrow continued, "I found it all the way up near his heart."

Joker betrayed some surprise. "What so it ricocheted all the way up there?"

Scarecrow nodded. "That's right. Needless to say, it caused massive damage. Even if I'd been here right away he was a goner."

"Is that the interesting part?" Joker asked, eying Marley with a lascivious eye as she scarfed down her sushi.

"No," Scarecrow snapped. "_This_ is the interesting part," and he held up a long, thin silver bullet. "Looks like he left a calling card."

Joker took the bullet eagerly and observed it with interest. Engraved on the side of the bullet was an unmistakable symbol. "Batman," Joker growled.

"The same bullet was in my leg," Barney called from the couch, "if anybody cares to know."

"Too bad it didn't ricochet and kill you too," Joker snapped and put the bullet down on the table where Marley picked it up to look at it. "So is that it then?" he asked Scarecrow.

"Yeah," he replied, "thought you'd like to know."

"Well we knew all along it was the Bat," Joker snapped.

"What, you don't think the bullet is an interesting clue?"

"Not particularly."

They talked on while Marley observed the bullet. She couldn't deny that it was his symbol, but wasn't it odd that Batman would so blatantly kill someone and leave this behind? She ran her fingers over the sharp, straight engraving. She squeezed it slightly and the bat shape popped in and then out, revealing a hidden chamber within the bullet. Inside was a small, curled piece of paper. "Umm," she said, interrupting Joker and Scarecrow's argument, "I think I found something." She pulled the small piece of paper from its compartment. Upon it was purple writing. Joker walked over to her and leaned in to get a look at the note. She read it aloud for all to hear. It said,

"_Joker, you're not the only one who kills with loaded guns; after all these years it's time to have some fun. You're imminent death will be a pity and then I'll run Gotham City._"

"Give me that," Joker demanded and snatched the paper from her, reading it for himself. He laughed instead of looking worried. "The Bat really _is_ stepping up his game…" he mused. "How exciting!"

"Aren't you worried 'bout the Bat, sir?" one of the thugs asked.

"Do I look worried about the Bat?" Joker asked him and the thug was silent.

Scarecrow moved closer to Joker. "J, we can use this opportunity to draw him out. If he's looking for you then we can set a trap and kill the bastard for good."

Joker nodded, "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Crane. But how…" Joker mused, lapsing into serious thought.

In the living room Barney was still watching Family Feud. The words BREAKING NEWS suddenly flashed across the screen.

_-We interrupt this program to bring you an important update on the missing woman, Marley Lynns—_

A picture of her filled up the screen and a hush fell over the room as every pair of eyes turned to her and then back to the TV.

_-There has still been no sign of Marley Lynns since yesterday afternoon. For those who are just now joining the program, Lynns disappeared from the Gotham Royal Hotel yesterday afternoon after the Joker's escape from Blackgate. Despite serious search efforts by Gotham police and the Batman himself, Lynns has yet to be found. Gotham Police say they refuse to give up on Ms. Lynns and believe that she is currently being held at one of the Joker's hideouts. Again, if you have any information regarding the crime, call the GCPD immediately—_

And just like that, the news cast disappeared and the cheering and screaming of Family Feud was back on the screen. There was an eerie silence for a few moments. The Joker turned slowly to her, a wicked smile upon his face. "Did you know you were missing, Ms. Lynns?" Joker asked with a crooked grin.

She was silent and stopped eating her sushi in mid-bite.

"Did you know Batman is looking for you?" he cooed, running his fingers along her bare shoulders. "Did you know _I'm_ looking for Batman?"

"What exactly you got in mind, boss?" Steele asked eagerly.

"I think I'm going to use this sweet thing as bait," he said, cupping her chin in his hand. "It's just too good an opportunity to ignore."

"But—but—" Marley stammered.

"Shh, shhh, shhh," Joker caressed her face and covered her mouth with his hand. "You won't get hurt, I _promise_."

She wasn't so sure. If Batman was running around with a gun, shooting practically everyone in sight, even Harley Quinn, then what did that mean for her? And the Joker was fine with putting her in the crosshairs? Didn't he care about her safety? She felt suddenly betrayed but remained silent, not wanting to take a bitchslap like Steele had when he'd argued with Joker.

"We'll do it tonight," Joker said darkly, moving towards the window, peering at the Steel Mill in the distance. The sun was just sinking below the horizon.

_Tonight?_ Marley thought desperately. She looked down at the rest of her sushi. It suddenly felt like her last meal as a heavy foreboding slowly settled over her. Her stomach churned and she lost her appetite. She rose from the table, suddenly feeling like she was going to cry. "I'm going to go take a bath," she said quietly to no one in particular as the Joker excitedly discussed tonight's plans with his thugs. She disappeared into the bedroom gloomily, shutting the door behind her.

At first the dead body hadn't bothered her, but the more she thought about tonight, the more the mutilated corpse swam before her eyes. She wondered if she should even try to talk the Joker out of it, but she had the feeling that once he'd made up his mind, he wasn't the kind of man to change it.

She took off her clothes and got into the warmth of the jacuzzi. She no longer felt like she was going to cry, but she was certainly upset. She thought Joker cared about her, liked her. She felt stupid for thinking that one day he could even love her. She pushed these upsetting thoughts from her mind and tried to concentrate on the heat of the water. She turned on the jets and let the bubbles caress her body. She tried not to imagine that this was the last bath she'd ever take.

After a while the Joker entered the room. "As much as I like seeing you naked," he said, "you need to get out of there—we got shit to do."

_You mean you've got shit to do_, she thought sulkily but remained silent. "You sure you don't want to join me?" she flirted, trying not to betray her apprehension.

Joker smiled. "We most certainly can after we kill the Bat," he said. "Now come on," he ordered, grabbing a towel and holding it out to wrap around her when she got out of the water. He slapped her ass but she didn't smile. "What wrong, my sweet?"

She shrugged. "It's just… what if something happens? Like what happened to Harley?"

Joker clenched his teeth. "What happened to Harley was Jacobs' fault," Joker growled. "This time _I'll_ be there to protect you."

For some reason this didn't comfort her at all. "How are you going to get Batman's attention?" she asked.

Joker shrugged. "Oh, there's endless options," he answered. "Kidnap a bus full of children, drop a few explosives on the city, take over the Gotham Royal again... but I have a special idea for tonight."

She stared at him apprehensively, waiting on him to elaborate, but he remained silent.

"Get dressed and you'll see," he said in response to her look and went back into the living room, leaving her alone once more.

She sighed and put her dress back on. If she was going to be bait, she might as well look good, right? So she spent some time putting on makeup in the bathroom, attempting to delay the inevitable. She heard a pounding on the door to the bedroom. "Get our here, Marley," Joker ordered darkly. "Don't make me tell you again."

And she wouldn't; she was out of the room in the next minute. Her eyes widened as she saw the transformed state of the living room. She couldn't have been in the bedroom for more than an hour, but the living room was now filled with multiple cameras, all sorts of different colored wires, and double the amount of thugs as before. A bright light shined on a single chair that sat in the middle of the room. All the cameras were pointing towards it.

"Take a seat, my sweet," Joker said as she entered the room, his hands resting on the back of the chair.

She sat down in the chair obediently, glancing around the room apprehensively. She caught Jacobs' eye and he gave her a half-smile, seeing that she was nervous. For some reason he was holding rope.

"No need to be scared," Joker said softly into her ear. "All you need to do is sit in this chair and I'll do all the talking. Go ahead and tie her up," Joker ordered Jacobs.

"What!" she exclaimed as Jacobs began tying her to the chair.

"Sorry, miss," he said.

"Remember Marley, you're a hostage. You're here _against_ your will, so of course you have to be bound," Joker explained.

Not only did Jacobs tie her to the chair, he also put a gag in her mouth, to which she exclaimed "Mm, mmm, mmm!" in indignation.

"Gettin' a little kinky," Barney murmured to another thug who chuckled.

"What did you just say?" Joker snapped, turning in the direction of the voice.

"Nothin', boss," Barney quickly answered.

He narrowed his eyes, "That's what I thought." Joker turned back to her and murmured "Shh, shhh, shhhhhhhh," in response to her muffled protests. He took a step back to take a look at the staged scene. "You need to look a little more… disheveled," he said and ruffled her hair roughly and smeared her eye makeup. "There," he said, impressed with his handiwork. "We almost ready Rubio?" he asked.

"Almost, boss. One minute, thirty seconds 'til we're live," Rubio answered.

"Excellent," Joker hissed, straightening his jacket and tie in the mirror. "Now remember, Marley. Look sad and upset and cry if you can," Joker told her. "Struggle against the ropes, okay? Pretend you're not a little slut who loves being tied up," he laughed.

She nodded. She didn't like the way many of the thugs were looking at her. She felt so helpless, exposed.

"Mute the TV but keep it on," he ordered the thugs. "I like to watch my handsome self as I terrorize."

The thugs obeyed his orders. She could see the TV from where she sat. It still played Family Feud. _Must be a fucking marathon_, she thought to herself.

"Alright, J," Rubio said. "We're taking over the airwaves in 3, 2, 1—" and he pointed to Joker to signal that they were live. The TV cut to their scene almost immediately, the Joker filled up the screen, blocking her from view.

"Good evening, Gotham," he spoke into the camera with an evil grin and urbane confidence. "It's been brought to my attention that Captain Gordon and his bumbling band of pigs are looking for a certain piece of ass that disappeared yesterday. Well, needless to say, I've got her," and he moved aside to reveal his prisoner. "Don't worry, she's intact," he said as he caressed her cheek with his gloved hand. "But she won't be for long," he laughed. "We've had sooo much fun with her, havent we boys?" and the thugs in the background nodded, some grabbed their crotches aggressively. "But we'll have even more if the Bat doesn't save this poor little girl," and with that he unsheathed his long, silver knife.

Her eyes widened and she made a little screech through her gag—he hadn't told her about this part. He put the knife up to her neck. The blade was ice cold. He nicked her with it and she could feel a sting and then warm blood trickle down her neck and onto her chest. "If the Bat doesn't show," he said menacingly, "I'll cut her fucking head off. We'll be at the Steel Mill, Batman. Ms. Lynns hopes to see you there. Don't you, baby?"

She nodded adamantly.

"That's a good girl," and he sheathed his blade. "Oh, and Batman," he moved close up to the screen. "Don't forget your gun; we wouldn't want this to be an unfair fight, now would we? See you tonight Bats!" Joker threw his head back in laughter and motioned for Rubio to cut the tape.

The scene disappeared from the TV screen, replaced once again by scheduled cable.

"Excellent job, my sweet," Joker cooed. "Now get her to the Mill," he ordered Jacobs and another thug who she'd never seen before.

She was thankful to escape the room packed with horny thugs. During the course of the video, she'd seen many of their crotches bulge intimidatingly—especially when Joker had cut her with the knife. _Gross motherfuckers, _she thought indignantly.

"The rest of you," Joker continued, "divide yourselves into three groups. One will come with me, another with Steele, and another with Rubio. Move your asses," he commanded and the thugs snapped to it, adorning themselves with their respective clown masks.

When Jacobs went to remove her gag, Joker stopped him. "Don't'. We can't risk someone figuring out this _isn't_ a kidnapping," he told Jacobs. "Keep her the ways she is."

"Whatever you say, boss." But Jacobs did wipe some of the blood off her neck with a washcloth.

Jacobs and the other thug lifted her up and carried her to a door in the corner. They opened it to reveal a thin staircase. The two thugs carried her up, grunting and huffing along the way. At the top there was a door on the ceiling that led to the rooftop. A helicopter was waiting for them there. Jacobs and the other thug lifted her up into it and got in themselves.

"You're kinda heavy, bitch," the other thug said.

She would have cussed at him if it hadn't been for the gag.

"Aight, let's go," Jacobs told the thug who was piloting the copter.

The craft rose from the ground, making her sushi-filled stomach feel queasy. The night had deepened while they'd been inside. The stars twinkled bright and white up above and the full moon shone down on them with a pale, cratered face. The Steel Mill was only a short distance from the penthouse and they landed softly on the rooftop.

Jacobs and the other thug carried her onto the roof. The roof was bare except for a crane. The chimneys of the Mill piped out thick, grey smoke that swirled and curled in the cool night breeze. The first helicopter rose and flew back in the direction of the penthouse. She saw a second helicopter moving towards them in the distance. When it arrived, blowing her hair every-which-way, Joker and his group of thugs got out.

"We've got snipers stationed on all the surrounding rooftops, boss," Jacobs told Joker. "Rubio's team is guarding the entrance and Steele and his guys are on the floor below us."

"Good," said Joker. "Now get her up on the crane."

_Get her up on the crane? What does that mean_? she thought wildly. And she screamed, "MMMMM!" when she realized. One of the thugs drove the crane over to wear she was, Jacobs hooked her chair up to it with a "Sorry, miss, hope you're not afraid of heights," and then she was lifted 10, 20, 30 feet above the rooftop and positioned so that if she fell she wouldn't land on the roof but on the ground 50 stories below. _What the fuck is this?_ Joker hadn't told her that this was in store. Sure, they'd had great sex earlier but that didn't give him the right to do something like this. Her eyes brimmed with real tears as she tried to stay still and not pee her pants. She never thought she'd say this but she found herself praying_, Batman, please save me!_

Joker and his men looked like little ants on the roof below. The night was getting chillier and chillier and all she was wearing was her thin dress from earlier. She was beginning to hate Joker for all this shit he was putting her through. When she got down from here, _if_ she got down from here, she was going to slap him in the face no matter the consequences. Though she was in a precarious position, she couldn't help but admire the look of Gotham City at night. In the distance she could see the Pioneer's Bridge and the high towers of the Gotham Hotel. Suddenly a new light lit up the sky—the bat signal! She'd never seen anything so beautiful in her life. _Get me down from here Batman! _she would have screamed if she could.

She could tell the thugs had seen the signal too by the way they scattered. An array of thin, red lights began combing the sky and nearby buildings for any sign of the Bat. After a few minutes she heard the loud, unmistakable bang of a gun. She turned to try to see where it was coming from and saw a thug falling to his death off the building to her right. He was here! The other thugs heard his scream and spattered the building with bullets, shooting blind at the intruder. There were a few moments of eerie silence and another scream was heard, this time to her left. Another thug fell to his death and the rest of the thugs again shot blindly at the building, not concerned about collateral damage.

Blue and red lights on the ground below caught her eyes. It looks like the Gotham Police had arrived on the scene. She saw an unknown helicopter heading this way. The words on the side read "Gotham News," and the helicopter shined a bright light on her and the rooftop when it arrived. She could see the blonde head of a reporter and a camera peering at her through the windows. A red and orange jet of fire shot towards the intruding helicopter. The rocket launcher met its mark and sent the helicopter spinning to its fiery death stories below. _Holy fuck_, she exclaimed as it exploded in a red and yellow fireball. _You could have killed me! _she wanted to scream at whoever had fired the rocket launcher.

Suddenly there was the sound of multiple guns going off at once—the police had engaged the thugs in a firefight on the ground. She peered down, trying to get a look at the action, but a winged, pointy-eared figure caught her eye as it glided from one of the adjacent buildings to land on the roof with force, making some of the unsuspecting thugs stumble backwards. The black figure threw a smoke bomb to conceal his whereabouts and to confuse the thugs. It worked as they fired their guns blindly into the smoke. She couldn't see anything for a few minutes until the smoke cleared. When it did, it revealed a grisly scene. Lifeless bodies lay all over the roof and the Bat was definitely using a gun. But not a normal gun; two devices were attached to each of his wrists and he was using those to shoot at Joker and his thugs.

She could see Joker hop on the helicopter, perhaps realizing that he was outmatched by this killer vigilante. The helicopter took off without the rest of his thugs and without her. _You fucking dick! _she screamed in her head as she watched the helicopter escape from the disastrous shoot out. She peered down at the dark Batman as he shot the two remaining thugs, making him the last figure standing. _Good, now get me down from here! _she thought desperately. But as the figure caught its breath and turned to look at her, he didn't move towards the crane but instead pointed his gun up at her. She saw the red light of his gun shine on her chest and then move up towards the rope above her head. _Oh god no_, she prayed, but the gun went off, severing the rope and sending her falling to the ground below. She shrieked in spite of the gag as the sound of wind filled her ears. She caught a glimpse of the figure as she hurtled towards the ground; he was dressed in black but there was something different about him. She wasn't sure, but it seemed that one of his eyes glowed an unnatural red.

She screamed and screamed as the world around her turned into a grey and black blur. _So this is it? So this is how it all ends?_ she thought desperately as her eyes burned and watered from the cold air.

Suddenly something knocked the air out of her. At first she thought she'd met the ground, but then she realized she was now swinging in midair—something had caught her mid-fall and was holding onto her by the back of the chair. She looked up to see who had saved her life and screamed as she saw another Batman, this one with white, glowing eyes. They landed on the fire escape on one of the adjacent buildings.

"Are you alright?" the familiar voice asked as he removed the gag from her mouth.

"Not really," she answered, on the verge of tears. "I think I pissed my panties," she wasn't lying. She suddenly felt an intense sting in her right arm and screamed in severe pain. The evil Batman on the roof of the Steel Mill was shooting at them. Batman grabbed her and shot his grapple gun up to the top of the apartment building, dodging the bullets of the impostor. They rolled to hide behind the ledge of the roof.

Batman peeked above the ledge, combing the night for a sign of the enemy. The vigilante cut the rope that tied her to the chair. She rolled away from it, screaming and crying in pain from the bullet wound. Suddenly the evil Batman landed on the roof with a crash. He tried to get a shot off but the real Batman was too quick for him and dodged the bullet and then kicked him hard in the chest.

The figure gasped and stumbled back but attempted to shoot at Batman again. Batman threw two glue grenades at the figure, clogging his guns. Batman then punched him twice, knocking him out with a final kick in the face. The red eye of the impostor flickered and then went out; the figure lay still.

"You need medical attention," Batman said to her as he tied up the impostor Batman. "Let's go, I'll call Gordon to pick this guy up," and with that Batman pressed a button on his forearm and in about 30 seconds a small jet was hovering above them. He picked her up as gingerly as he could and hoisted her onto his shoulder like he had at the Gotham Royal. He shot his grapple gun up at the jet which pulled them inside. She was delirious with pain but saw all sorts of lights and buttons on the dashboard of the jet. "Just hold on," he told her. But she fell once more out of consciousness, the lights of Gotham City growing dim before her.


	4. The Bat

The Bat

There was nothing but darkness for what seemed like the longest time. She was conscious of nothing more than a feeling of weightlessness and the sound of rushing water. She wasn't in pain at all; in fact, she could hardly feel her body. But soon she was conscious only of a rhythmic beep, beep, beep, that echoed on the outskirts of her consciousness. At first she didn't know what the beeping was—an alarm clock? a phone? She tried to open her eyes but they felt incredibly heavy. She almost didn't want to wake up from this magnificent sleep. But the beep, beep, beeping wouldn't stop—it actually got quicker as she tried harder and harder to open her eyes.

She was conscious of movement near her and a bright, thin line of light appeared miles away. It grew closer and closer until it was all that filled up her vision and then it shrank so she could see that it was a small flashlight-contraption held by a man dressed in black. She could only make out his vague outline. He said something but she couldn't hear what it was, as if her ears were clogged. She blinked a few times and tried to move her body. At first she felt nothing, but then she was electrified by a horrific pain in her arm. She gasped and the beeping got even quicker. The voice spoke again, this time louder, but she still couldn't tell what it was saying. She felt a suddenly pinch on her left arm and she winced.

But then an overwhelming high enveloped her body, accompanied by a serene chill. Her vision suddenly became clearer and she was conscious of a hand on her shoulder. She looked down to observe it. It was tan in color and muscular. It had a large bruise on it that spread from his ring finger down to his thumb. The wrist attached to the hand disappeared underneath a tight black sleeve.

Her eyes followed the sleeve up to a forearm attached to a bicep that bulged with very striking muscles. Her eyes moved to his chest then downwards when she saw that through the shirt she could even see a six pack. _Wow, that's impressive_, she thought. Or she thought she thought, because a voice answered. "What is?"

"Your abs," she replied before she realized what she was doing.

The figure crossed his arms over his chest and chuckled.

She looked up at the man's face. It was square with a strong chin and cheeks dotted with a dark 5 o'clock shadow. His nose was thin and not too long. His eyes were bright and intelligent and sparkled a brilliant blue in the bright lights. His smooth forehead betrayed a concerned expression. His hair was cut short and was dark brown, almost black.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

She stared at his mouth—it was a very pretty mouth. In fact, every bit of him was pretty. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen a more attractive man—Joker included.

"I feel high as fuck."

"You _are_ high as fuck," he answered, holding up a syringe with a smile. "Morphine," he said, "You have a pretty grisly bullet wound that would be causing you a lot of pain without it."

She turned her head to look at her arm. Her bicep was wrapped with a white bandage and an IV stuck out of her arm. Her index finger rested inside a pulse monitor.

"Ewww, I hate needles," she squirmed a bit.

"Don't look at it, look at me," the man said.

She gladly complied and stared at the handsome man once more.

"Does your arm hurt?" he asked.

"Not really," she said and moved it and screamed with pain. "Aaah! Never mind, yes, it hurts."

"Just try to keep it still," he said and he turned to survey some computers that sat atop tables to her left.

"Where am I? I'm not at the hospital…"

She definitely lay in a hospital bed but she'd never seen a room like this before. They were positioned on the edge of a large, cavernous chamber. A waterfall sounded in the distance. She could see a jet sitting on a platform that stood out across what looked like a bottomless pit. Two silver bridges stretched across the void, joining different parts of the strange room.

"You're in the Bat Cave," he answered matter-of-factly as if this wasn't shocking news.

"The Bat Cave?" she exclaimed. "What—why am I not at the hospital?" Not that she was complaining…

He shook his head. "You've been unconscious for a while," he said.

"Like how long?"

"Let's see…" he said, checking his watch. "One hundred and fifty-six hours so…almost a week," he answered.

"A WEEK!" she exclaimed, sitting up and squeaking again due to the pain in her arm.

"That's right," the man said. "I didn't want to leave you in a hospital unguarded," he said, the smile disappearing from his face. "Joker's torn the city apart looking for you."

Her eyes widened at that tidbit of information. She was partly flattered, but mostly indignant. "He shouldn't have put me up on that crane if he cared about what happened to me!"

The man chuckled. "You and I are in agreement there," he replied as he put the cold metal of a stethoscope on her chest.

"So… you're Batman then?" she asked hesitantly.

"You can call me Bruce," he said nonchalantly. "Now breathe in… and out…"

She did what he said and stared at him. "Sooo… you brought me here to keep me safe?"

He nodded and put the stethoscope down after marking something down on a chart. He crossed his arms across his muscular chest and frowned slightly, looking at her with a stern expression. "You want to tell me why you ran away from me at the Gotham Royal?" he asked, peering at her with serious eyes.

She could feel color rush to her face and she bit her lip, unable to suppress a smile. "I didn't run away; I was kidnapped," she lied.

He raised one eye brow. "Is that so?" and he pressed a button and all five computer screens beside the bed started playing the same video. She first saw Batman and then saw herself. She watched as Batman climbed into the vent and then watched herself bounce girlishly around the corner to the elevator.

She grimaced—he'd caught her.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, staring at her with a confused expression.

Could she tell him the truth? He'd either laugh or think she was crazy. "Umm…" she faltered, "I… uhh… wanted to see the Joker…" she confessed.

His eyes widened. "Were you high on crack?"

She laughed a little. "Umm, no, I just… always liked him."

He remained silent and still looked at her with a confused expression.

She sighed. "I thought he'd be great at sex—and I mean he was-"

His face betrayed a disturbed look.

"Don't judge me!" she snapped. "I thought he'd be nice but obviously I was wrong."

He laughed. "Uh, yeah, way wrong."

"Shut up!" she told him but smiled in spite of herself.

"You'd be dead if _I_ hadn't saved you're life," he looked impressed with himself.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Beating up thugs, saving the day—it's what you _need_."

He looked surprised at her spunk. "Maybe that's true, miss—"

"Marley."

"Maybe that's true, Miss Marley," he continued, "but you're in more trouble than you realize."

"How so?"

"The Joker's not going to stop looking for you. He's already taken countless lives in the past week…" and he pushed keys at his command center and the computer screens filled up with grisly scenes of mayhem and destruction. One screen showed the Gotham Royal, once again burning and ruined; another showed Joker thugs—she was almost positive one was Jacobs—driving a stolen ambulance, smashing cars as they barreled down the road; another showed large, purple presents dropping onto the city only to explode when they touched the ground; and another replayed the video she and Joker had made before the disaster at the Steel Mill.

"Well where have _you_ been?" she asked the Batman.

"_I've_ been _here_ taking care of _you_," he replied, not at all bothered by her snarky response. "I finally got him to stop terrorizing the city by telling him that I had you."

"You told him I was here?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, not that you're _here_ here, just that I have you. He knows I won't kill you now that we've all seen the imposter Batman."

She'd forgotten all about the other Batman. "Who the hell was that?" she asked, suddenly remembering his glowing red eye.

"I'm not sure yet."

"Well don't the police have him in custody? You tied him up before we came here," she said, recalling her last few moments of consciousness.

"He got away," Bruce replied in a disappointed voice.

"He got out of the ties?" she asked, surprised.

"It's unlikely he got out by himself."

"So you think he has a partner?"

"It's a theory," he replied. "I need to investigate more to know for certain."

"Do you have a hunch about who the murderer Batman is?" she asked.

"I try to refrain from making too many assumptions before I have solid evidence," he replied, "but those guns he was using, I've seen them before."

"Really? Where?" she asked eagerly.

"His name's Deadshot. You heard of him?"

She nodded, remembering hearing about him on the news a few years ago. He was an excellent sharp shooter, known to hit several targets with one carefully placed bullet, but no one had seen him in years. "Why would he want to kill Joker? Isn't Deadshot a mercenary?"

"Yes," Bruce replied. "So, the real question would be _who_ hired Deadshot to kill Joker. But before I dive into a wild theory, I need to wait for more evidence to surface."

She suddenly remembered the note she'd found in the bullet. She recounted the creepy little rhyme and Bruce narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

"Well Joker certainly has his fair share of enemies," he mused, "but why would someone suddenly have it out for him?"

She shrugged, having as much a clue as he did. She changed the subject. "Soo… is Joker fine with me staying here?"

Bruce laughed hard. "Hell, no. He thinks I'm handing you over to him tomorrow night."

"What!" she exclaimed. There was no reason for her to be afraid of Joker, but she didn't feel very good about being committed into his care after what happened at the Steel Mill. "Are you going to give me to him?" she asked incredulously, studying Bruce's face.

"That all depends on you, Miss Marley."

"What? How?"

"Well if I like having you around, I'll keep you; if I don't, I'll hand you over," he teased with a handsome grin.

She could think of one or two ways to convince him to keep her.

"So when can I get out of this bed?" she asked, _and into yours_, she thought.

"Well I was hoping you'd accompany me to a ball tonight."

"A ball! Tonight!" she exclaimed

"But it depends on how your arm looks," he opened a drawer and took out a pair of long, silver scissors. "Let's take a look," and he walked over to the other side of her bed and began cutting the bandage.

"It looks worse than it is," he said in response to her gasp.

Her arm looked horrible. A massive green and blue bruise colored her arm from elbow to shoulder. She turned away when she saw the gnarly hole in her arm from the bullet. It was black and very scabby, only just beginning to heal.

"Believe it or not," he said with a smile, "it looks really good. You're lucky the bullet didn't dig into your bone—then we'd have real problems," he told her. "I'm going to give you another dose of morphine—"

"Yes, please!" she exclaimed, remembering the amazing feeling.

"—because and only because I'm going to clean it and I don't want to hurt you," he told her. "But that's all the morphine for tonight. I refuse to be responsible for a morphine addiction." He pulled out a clean syringe, filled it with a clear substance, and inserted it into her IV.

She felt the mind-blowing sensation spread through her body once more. "Oooh, fuck," she moaned, delirious with the feeling. "That's almost better than an orgasm."

Bruce laughed as he got a cotton ball and dipped it into another clear liquid. "Alright, brace yourself," he said, and began dabbing it onto the wound.

Even with the effects of the morphine she winced from the sting of the substance. "Ouch! Stop it!"

Bruce laughed. "No, I have to do this."

"No you don't," she insisted, trying to move her arm away from him.

"Miss Marley, don't make me put you under. Then I'd have to ask another pretty girl to the ball."

"Well you're Bruce Wayne," she snapped, "that wouldn't be too hard."

"To get a girl, no," he answered, "to get a girl _worth_ getting, yes."

The satisfaction of those words themselves seemed to ease the pain of the acidic substance. "So what's the occasion?" she asked him, trying to take her mind off the pain.

He smiled at her ignorance. "Today's Halloween, Miss Marley."

She widened her eyes. She remembered he'd told her she'd been out for a week but she hadn't given a second thought to what today was.

"So it's a costume ball?"

He gave her a bored nod as if this didn't excite him. She loved Halloween. It was the one night you could be anything you wanted, get super drunk, and party.

"What's your costume?" she asked excitedly.

He seemed surprised at her sudden excitement. "Hold still," he said as she started to shake her fists in anticipation of tonight's festivities.

"Are you going as Batman?" she asked and laughed. "You already have the costume."

He laughed too. "I was thinking we could have themed costumes," he told her, his face betraying a shy expression.

"Awww, you want to go as a theme? You're cute as a button," she teased him.

He couldn't hide his blush, but he covered his embarrassment skillfully, like someone who was used to wearing a mask. "If you don't want to its fine—"

"Of course I want to!" she exclaimed.

His face lit up and he looked unbelievably boyish. She couldn't believe this was the man who cracked skulls on the streets every night, who outsmarted supervillains, who dedicated his life to stopping crime.

"Anything you want to be, we can be," he told her as he massaged some sort of gel onto her arm.

Her mind swam with all the choices. "Let's be Batman and Batgirl," saying the first one that came to her mind.

"Believe it or not," he smiled, "most people in Gotham _don't_ know my true identity. Let's not make it too easy for them."

She had to agree. "How about… Harley Quinn and Joker?"

"Dressing as a recently deceased woman is definitely in bad taste," he replied. "And I don't want someone shooting at me if they mistake me for the actual Joker."

"That would never happen! You two have way different body types." She'd know.

He rolled his eyes but smiled. "I still refuse to take that risk. Let's be safe and go as _fictional_ characters."

"Hmmm," she puzzled. "Oh! I'll be Ms. Marvel and you can be… Spiderman?"

He laughed. "I like you as Ms. Marvel but I don't want to be Spiderman. I'll be Deadpool."

She liked that even better. "So when you said I could pick the costumes you really meant you'd make me throw out ideas until I said one you liked," she pointed out.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so," he agreed amiably. "But in my defense your first two ideas were really bad ones."

"Hey! I still think you'd make a really good Batman. Irony would abound when people complimented your costume."

"It would," he agreed, "but I think I'll make a sexy Deadpool."

"You'd make a sexy toaster for God's sake."

He laughed. "You'll look great as Ms. Marvel too," and he gave her a sly smile, undoubtedly imagining her in the skimpy, black leotard. He began wrapping her arm in a tan colored bandage. "The gloves of the costume will cover most of your arm," he told her, "but the bandage will by slightly visible. If anyone asks, you hurt it…" he brainstormed for a lie.

"Rollerblading," she blurted out.

He smiled, "Okay, rollerblading."

She watched him wrap the bandage around her arm for a few moments and then said, "Joker won't be at this party, will he?"

"If he is then I guess I _will_ have to go as Batman. I need to take him into custody. He's an escaped prisoner, you know."

"Yeah, I know," she said gloomily. "Are you going to try to take him down tomorrow night when we meet him?"

"Well…" he scratched the back of his head. "I wanted to discuss that with you."

_Uh oh_, she wondered what was coming next.

He sighed. "I was hoping you'd be willing to go back to him," he said, "and do some investigative work for me. It seems this mystery Batman is after Joker for some reason. I can't watch Joker while he's in the penthouse, but you can."

She was silent for a few moments, thinking it over. "So you want me to be a double agent?"

He chuckled. "Not exactly. You aren't really working _for_ or _against_ one of us but helping me find the imposter Batman who's trying kill Joker. In a way, you're actually doing Joker a favor."

She wasn't so sure about his logic. "Do you think I'll be safe? What if Joker finds out?" she asked, suddenly scared. She had no idea what he would do to her if he found out she was working with Batman, but she knew it wouldn't be good.

"Yes, you'll be safe," he assured her. "I'll be with you every moment of every day with this," and he held up a small device that looked like a hair barrette. It was red with a black flower on it. "It's a microphone," he said, smiling at the look on her face. "Just put it in your hair," he handed it to her, "and I'll always be with you. Any sign of trouble, and I'll be there."

She scrutinized the tiny microphone.

"Does that make you feel more comfortable?"

"Sort of," she replied. "You realize you'll hear us having sex, right?"

"Of course I realize that," he said grumpily, almost jealously. "I'll just turn it down during that."

"Yeah right," she teased him, "You'll probably turn it _up_."

He smiled, getting used to her jests. He changed the subject. "So if you're coming to the ball with me," he said, "you have to get out of that bed. Your legs will be weak at first from almost a week of disuse," he said as she scooted to the foot of the bed, "so hang onto me as you walk these first steps."

He didn't have to tell her twice. She was more than happy to grasp his bicep. It was rock hard and made her think of other things that could be rock hard. Instead of trying to walk like she was supposed to be doing, she started massaging his arm, squeezing and caressing his muscles while she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Ummm, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I guess this could be classified as feeling you up," she replied. "How about we don't walk right now and do something else instead?" she asked, giving him a flirty smile.

He gave her a look. "Do you think I'm that easy, Miss Marley?" he asked.

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm not," he smiled. "You're going to have to do a bit more than that to get into _my_ pants."

She tried not to betray her chagrin. Guys always wanted to have sex and never turned her down when she came onto them. _I guess you are going to be a challenge, Bruce_, she thought. "You're _boring_," she teased him and jumped off the edge of the bed with reckless confidence.

She had expected her legs to work properly, but they definitely didn't. They felt like jelly and she would have collapsed onto the concrete floor if he hadn't caught her around the waist and scooped her back onto her feet. He continued holding her around the waist so she wouldn't fall again.

"Can't keep your hands off me, I see," she teased again.

He ignored her. "If you want to go to the ball, you'll have to listen to me. Put weight on one leg," he instructed her, "hold if for about a minute, and then switch."

In about 5 minutes she was mobile once more.

"So you think you've seen enough of the Batcave?" he asked as she graduated from a brisk walk to a clumsy skip.

She jumped and landed in front of him. "I'm assuming your mansion is above this cave?" she asked.

"I prefer to call it my house, but yes," he smiled and walked over to an elevator in the corner of the room.

She followed him, her eyes studying his perfect ass. She felt a slight pang of guilt for coming onto Batman so quickly. She felt loyal to Joker in a way, even after what had happened at the Steel Mill. _Well you haven't fucked him yet so don't feel too guilty_, she told herself. But she didn't know if she _could_ resist Bruce Wayne; she didn't even know if she _wanted_ to resist him. _Let's say I did sleep with him, Joker would never know, right?_ she rationalized to herself. _So there'd really be no harm in it… _Her mind began racing. _I could have both of them,_ she thought wickedly.

"Why are you so quiet?" Bruce asked as the elevator door shut and it lurched upwards.

"Oh, just thinking about all the nasty things I'm going to do to you," she replied.

He gave a "Hmph," and didn't ask any more questions, leaving her alone to her thoughts.

_ Would that make me a slut? _she puzzled. _Even if it does I don't give a fuck,_ she decided. She took a moment to think about how different they both were. With Joker, she'd felt like he was always the one in control, the one calling the shots. But with Bruce, she seemed to have a strange hold over him; she recalled how he'd betrayed dismay when she had jokingly rejected his idea that they attend the ball with themed costumes. _Bruce's hesitation at having sex with me is just a ruse then_, she realized, _his one way to try and maintain control. You wont hold out much longer, Batman._

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened with a cheerful ding, just like the elevator at the Gotham Royal. That made her remember how the Wayne's had made their fortunes, in technological innovations. And their house fucking showed it. The elevator had taken them to some sort of enormous study. It had countless bookshelves that rose up at least 4 stories high. The furniture was dark wood. A warm fire crackled in a huge fireplace in the center of the room. Inviting arm chairs were scattered throughout the room. If she'd liked reading, she would have been quivering with excitement. Instead she asked, "Are you a bookworm?"

He shrugged. "Maybe," he answered, "but most of these are my father's."

Everyone knew Bruce Wayne's parents had been killed when he was a child, so she didn't question him further. He led her into another huge room that looked like a foyer. Two marble staircases led up to the second story.

"You can stay in one of the rooms up here," he said as he led her down a hallway after they'd climbed the stairs.

"I can't stay in your room?" she flirted.

"We'll see," he said.

_Oh, so we've graduated to a "we'll see,_" she thought with satisfaction.

He opened the door to a huge bedroom with a four poster king-sized bed, a full entertainment center, and a balcony that overlooked a magnificent garden. "You can rest in the bed or get cleaned up in here," he said and opened the door to a huge bathroom.

"You sure you don't want to join me," she rubbed her hand against his crotch.

He pulled away and laughed. "You are one horny girl, Miss Marley. It's tempting but I got some things to take care of before tonight—acquiring our costumes for one. But maybe later," and with that he'd shut the door, leaving her alone in the massive bedroom. But before he'd gone, she saw that he had a boner. She smiled, knowing she'd soon have him.


	5. The Ball

The Ball

Once she'd showered and washed the sweat and grime from the last week off her body, she felt like a new woman. She couldn't get Bruce's boner off her mind while she showered. She refrained from touching herself, determined to seduce him before they went to the ball. She blow dried her hair, making it thick and flowy like Ms. Marvel's. Before she left the bathroom she slipped the microphone barrette into her hair to give the top some volume. When she walked back into the bedroom, she saw that her costume was waiting on her. She bounced over to it excitedly. Bruce had spared no expense. The costume was complete: it had the black leotard with the yellow lightning bolt, a small black mask, the red ribbon to go around her waist, thigh high black boots, and long black gloves. She bit her lip, excited to see how sexy she looked in it.

She slipped on the black leotard, tied the sash around her waist, donned the mask, and put on the boots and gloves. She ran over to the mirror and gasped. She wasn't sure if she'd ever looked sexier than she did now. She once again had to keep herself from masturbating, not to Bruce, but to how sexy she herself looked. _I'd like to see you resist now, Bruce_, she thought.

There was a knock on the door and it made her jump but she recovered herself quickly. She stood in the doorway back to the bedroom and leaned on the door frame. "Come in," she said, trying to look sexy and succeeding.

An equally sexy, if not more sexy, Deadpool entered the room. Bruce had nailed the costume. The red and black body suit hugged his muscles in all the perfect places, a tan holster wrapped around his broad shoulders, and two more holster hugged each of this muscular thighs. He even had two katanas strapped across his back. At first he was wearing the mask to hide his face but pulled it down to observe her in all her glory, revealing his handsome face and ruffing up his hair.

"Damn, you look good," they said in unison.

She walked over to him slowly, her hands on her hips. He watched her with hungry eyes as she stopped before him. She bit her lip as she entwined her fingers around the holsters on his legs. "Mmm, you're so sexy," she flirted and pulled him closer.

He smiled and pushed her away half-heartedly. "We need to get to the party. It's started already."

"I'm okay with being late if you are," and she stood up on her tiptoes to make her mouth reach his before he could argue.

He didn't push her away this time. His mouth was warm and inviting. They kissed with closed mouths for a few moments, feeling each other out. She bit his lip and looked at him, the top half of her face hidden sensually by the mask. He smiled and put his hand on the back of her neck lightly, it gave her chills. He moved her mouth towards his once more. Their tongues entwined thirstily. She felt his other hand on her hip and she moved it to her ass. She could feel him smile as he gave it a squeeze. She pulled him by his Deadpool belt towards the bed; their bodies pressed hard against one another. She could feel his hard cock digging into her. One of her hands held the side of his face while the other began rubbing his crotch. She heard him give a low moan and she felt a surge of excitement between her legs. She fell back onto the bed. He crawled on top of her, his huge, muscular body covering her almost completely. She wrapped her legs around him as they continued making out, each of them moaning at intervals.

She felt around his waist, trying to free his cock from the confines of the costume. She managed to rip off the belt and throw it onto the floor with a clank, but there seemed to be no zipper to unleash the massive cock that teased her under the black and red cloth.

"How the fuck do I get your pants off?" she asked, frustrated that she had to use her mouth for talking instead of kissing.

He smiled. "I have a zipper up here," and he reached towards his neck and pulled it down to reveal his incredible chest. She took over and unzipped it to his crotch where, as she suspected, a cock that rivalled Joker's waited for her.

"Fuck yes," she said as she started rubbing it with long, hard strokes.

He moaned and unzipped her costume, sucking her tits when they popped out of her leotard. He pulled it all the way off, leaving on her mask, gloves, and thigh high boots.

"I want to suck your cock," she told him, eying it as he stood beside the bed and stripped himself of the Deadpool costume completely.

"That's sounds amazing," he said, "but first things first," and he pulled her to the edge of the bed, dropped to his knees, and started eating her pussy. She screamed with pleasure. She didn't know why, but the fact that he was on his knees made it so much hotter. There she was getting head from Bruce Wayne on his motherfucking knees. This was perhaps the best moment of her life. She could feel him licking her clit; surprisingly it didn't make her jump like when Joker did it. As he licked her, he reached up and pinched her tits with one hand and fingered her pussy with the other. He forced two fingers into her tight pussy and found her g-spot. Rubbing it in all the right ways. She came almost instantly, arching her back and moaning loudly and sensually. Her orgasm was incredibly deep and drawn out, it took her a few moments to catch her breath. She watched him lick his lips, her juices shined like liquor on his beautiful mouth. "You taste… sweet," he marveled.

"I know," she replied with a smile as she pulled him back onto the bed, tasting herself when their mouths met once more. "Let me suck your cock," she said, and he rolled over onto his back, letting her have her way.

His cock wasn't quite as long as Joker's, but it was very thick, just like the rest of his body. She licked it from base to head a few times and he watched her with a satisfied smile. When she stretched her jaw open to fit it into her mouth, she heard him moan and close his eyes, enjoying the incredible sensation. She forced his cock deep into her mouth, moaning as she opened her throat to take it. She sucked it for a while, loving it, until she felt him grab her arm. She looked up to see what he wanted and he grabbed her by the hips, lifting her onto him to get into cowgirl. She screamed as his cock filled up her pussy. He moaned too, enjoying the wet softness between her legs. She began bouncing up and down on his long, thick cock.

"Oh fuck yeah," he moaned and helped her go faster by lifting her up and down by the hips.

Now she was the one saying "Oh fuck" as he also started ramming it into her from below. She grabbed his wrists and hung on tight as she rode his cock. Her tits bounced all over the place and she gasped each time his cock touched her g-spot. He suddenly took his cock out of her and flipped her over into doggy—her favorite position. She bent over onto her forearms, sticking her ass in the air for him. He ran his hand up her spine as he forced his cock in once more. They both moaned, making eye contact and smiling at how much they were both enjoying the sex. He started out slow and then got quicker and quicker. The sheer thickness of his cock was making her pussy ache, but there was no way in hell she was going to tell Bruce Wayne to stop.

"Slap my ass," she said and he did it. He liked the way she gasped and smiled so he did it again. He grabbed her hips and railed her hard and fast once more, incredibly turned on by the fact that she loved getting her ass slapped. She could tell he was getting close to orgasm so she turned her head to watch him, savoring every emotion in his handsome face. He closed his eyes and moaned as he came deep inside her.

He collapsed onto the bed beside her, breathing hard but not yet spent.

She lay down beside him and sucked on his neck, liking the sound of his "Mmmms."

"As much as I'd like to stay here and fuck you," he said after a few minutes, "we need to get to the ball."

She didn't argue because she also wanted to go to the costume ball, it just sucked that they had to quit fucking in order to do that. "Mmmm, that sex was really fun," and she gave him a sexy smile as she went into the bathroom to clean off the cum that was seeping out of her.

"It was," he agreed as he rose also and began donning his Deadpool costume once more.

"Daaamn," she said as she checked him out when she came back into the room. Even before tonight she'd thought Deadpool was sexy. And now that Bruce Wayne was the one behind the mask she could hardly control herself. "You shouldn't have put that costume back on."

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"Because now I want to fuck you again," and she pressed her naked body against his, unable to keep her hands from gravitating towards his cock.

He laughed and grabbed both her hands and spun her around so they were behind her back like a prisoner.

"Ohh, yes, let's fuck with you holding me down," she said excitedly, pretending to struggle against his grasp.

"No," he said, still smiling, "we have to get to the limousine, Miss Marley. And _then_ we can fuck."

"We can fuck in the limo?"

"Hell yeah, it's my limo and I'll do what I want in it."

She let out a squeal of excitement.

"Just don't do that again," he teased her.

She did it again louder.

He gave her a look as they exited the bedroom but didn't say anything else about the high-pitched squeal. "Come on, get dressed," he said.

She put her leotard back on, making sure the tease him as she did it.

Eventually they exited the bedroom.

"So," he started, "have you ever been to any 'high society,'" he inserted finger quotations," parties before?"

She couldn't say that she had.

"Well…" he sighed, "they are so…boring."

"How so?"

"Not to brag but I'm sure you know I'm somewhat of a celebrity in Gotham City. At the ball paparazzi will be taking pictures of us. They'll want to ask us questions, they'll want to know who _you_ are, they'll want to know gossip, dirty details, et cetera."

"And how in the world is that boring?" she asked, jumping around excitedly at the sight of the limo waiting for them in the circular driveway.

"Maybe it's just boring to me because it happens everywhere I go," he told her.

"What a wretched existence," she said sarcastically.

He grimaced, wondering how to articulate his thoughts. "It's just that everywhere I go, I wear a mask; whether it's as a veiled vigilante or as a millionaire playboy."

"Surely the latter is a bit more fun?"

He smiled. "Depends on the day," he replied.

She'd never thought about what it would be like to be Bruce Wayne. She'd assumed it was all shits and giggles. "Well you're a hero, you know. Not many people can boast of that. I mean, you save lives. Including mine," she told him. "I don't think I ever thanked you for that."

"No need to thank me," he said. "Can you imagine what this city would look like without me?"

"There probably wouldn't _be_ a city," she said. She imagined Gotham with Joker, Scarecrow, Deathstroke, Poison Ivy, Penguin, and Two Face all running loose. She couldn't help but shudder.

"But enough about my sob story," he said as they approached to limo. "Let's talk about tonight. I have to put on my playboy persona—you can help with that right?"

"I'm assuming that entails hard partying, promiscuous behavior, and bad choice making? Yeah, I think I can help with that," she gave him a smile that wiped the somber look off his face.

"Something tells me this is going to be fun, Miss Marley. But first let's lay some ground rules: don't take off your mask," he said, "We don't want Joker finding out you're with me." She hadn't even thought of that. He opened the door for her and when she bent over to get into the limo he smacked her ass. "And don't leave my side," he slid onto the luxurious leather seat and put his arm around her. "Sometimes these people can be more dangerous than maniacs like Joker."

She wanted to ask him what he meant by this but his slap had gotten her horny all over again. Before she even reached out to touch him Bruce ordered the driver to roll up the partition, giving them some privacy.

"And," he started, halting her hand from grabbing his crotch, "tonight, and tonight only, you can call me Deadpool."

She was fine with that. "And you can call me Ms. Marvel."

"Sounds delightful."

Bruce opened a tiny compartment on the armrest. He pressed a few buttons and music came on. "What music do you prefer?" he asked.

"Honestly, I don't give a fuck."

He smiled and turned on rap. "This fits the persona as well as any."

And the second the partition reached its full upright position, blocking their dirty deeds from the eavesdropping driver, they were all over each other as if they hadn't fucked less than 20 minutes ago. As they kissed ravenously he laid her down on the seat and climbed on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his hard body, rubbing his crotch with one hand and gripping his neck with the other. He didn't delay in undressing her, unzipping her costume so he could simultaneously suck her tits and finger her wet pussy. He was amazingly good at finding her g-spot. With each stroke she emitted a sexy moan. He took pleasure in being able to manipulate her body in such a way. He dove down between her legs, dying to get his mouth full of pussy. Her tits were starting to ache from all of the pinching and squeezing, first from Joker and now from Batman, but the pain mixed with the pleasure made it better.

The bass from the loud music only enhanced her pleasure while he gave her head. But soon she wanted his cock again more than anything else. "Please put your cock in me!" she gasped in between moans. Before he obliged, he sunk his teeth into her thigh. She screamed, not in pain, but from shock and excitement. He didn't break the skin, but as they both looked down at the bite mark, a blue outline of his teeth was already appearing.

"Oh shit," he said, "I probably shouldn't have done that."

"I don't give a fuck," she said, not caring at all about the bruise or what Joker would think of it. "Now fuck me!"

He indulged her, stripping himself of his costume yet again to reveal his massive, erect cock. She sucked it a bit just for fun before he forced it into her in missionary. She gasped as it filled up her tight pussy. He put her legs up on his shoulders and started out slow but hard, pulling his cock out slowly and then ramming it back into her. She loved this technique and screamed each time it hit her g-spot. He was already fucking her really hard but then she said, "Can you go harder?"

"Can I?" he asked and smiled. "Hell yeah I can."

And he started ramming his cock into her like nothing she had ever felt in her life. "Oh… Oh… my fucking…. God!" she screamed after a few minutes, experiencing a mind blowing orgasm once more.

Her orgasm only served to turn him on even more and when he could feel himself coming, he pulled out without thinking, accidentally jizzing on her black leotard.

"Oh fuck!" she laughed, not caring too much about the white mark.

"Sorry about that," Bruce apologized, looking slightly embarrassed. "I have something here for these exact situations."

She watched with her eyes half-closed, still feeling the effects of the orgasm, as he opened yet another compartment and pulled out a rag. He got up and slid over to the center of the limo and opened a door that beheld a mini bar. He grabbed a bottle of water, wetted the rag, and asked her "Want anything to drink? Champagne maybe?"

Champagne after sex? Her answer was yes.

He poured two glasses, handed one to her, and scrubbed out the cum stain on her leotard. "Too bad we can't get rid of that bite mark between your legs."

"I like it," she said, surveying it with satisfaction.

"Joker won't," he replied darkly.

She shrugged, not worried at all for some reason. "Maybe it will be gone by tomorrow."

He scoffed. "I doubt it. I bit you really hard and you bruise like a peach."

She had to agree on both accounts.

They felt the car come to a sudden stop.

Bruce furrowed his brow. "We're still about four blocks from City Hall," he puzzled. "And there's no stoplights on this part of 85th street…"

"How the hell do you know where we are?" shocked that he could keep their location in mind even during sex.

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "I'm Batman," is all he said as he slipped his Deadpool costume back on in a flash and took two of his guns out of his leg holsters.

"Those are real guns?" she exclaimed, putting her costume back on too.

"Sort of," he replied, "filled with rubber ammunition instead of real bullets. I refuse to kill, but I'm fine with horribly maiming." He peered warily through the windows to the dark street outside.

Suddenly the partition rolled down slowly to reveal an empty front seat.

"What the—"

"Shh," Bruce told her as he pulled the Deadpool mask over his face. "Get down on the ground; danger's afoot."

Even though they were in a life and death situation she still giggled at the fact that he'd said "danger's afoot." She'd have to make fun of him later. She crawled down onto the carpet of the limo, making sure to bring her champagne with her.

"This limo is bullet proof, so you'll be safe in here," he said right before a loud _brak-brak-brak-brak-brak_ was heard from outside as bullets sprayed the windows of the car.

"Do you think it's Joker?" she screamed above the noise.

He shook his head no. "Joker would be more creative. This sounds like aggressive muggers."

Suddenly a figure with a scream mask poked his head through the partition, "Put your hands up, fuckers, or I'll sh—"

But Bruce was too quick for him and had already shot him in the face; the figure collapsed, hanging halfway through the partition window. Bruce opened the car door and rolled out, slamming it behind him, leaving her alone in the limo. She drank more champagne as she listened to the firefight going on outside. She could feel her temperature rising; she wondered if it was from the champagne or the excitement. She only had to wait two or three minutes before there was nothing but silence outside the car. The door opened and there Deadpool stood without a scratch on him and hardly out of breath. He clenched his fists and roared in excitement. "Damn! That firefight really brought the Deadpool spirit out in me! Get your sexy ass out here, babe. We got a ball to attend." He held out his hand and bowed in a lavish manner. She burst out laughing. His Deadpool impression was incredibly perfect. Sure, Bruce was tired of wearing a mask, but he was damn good at putting one on.

She laughed and shook her head. "How did you become such a badass?" she asked as she took his hand to get out of the wrecked limo. She surveyed about 10 or 11 knocked out thugs, all of which wore assorted Halloween masks.

"Oh, I think I was fucked up in a Canadian lab or something—little fuzzy on the details," he pulled her out of the road and into an alley, hoisting her up onto his waist with her back against a brick wall of one of the buildings.

She pulled his mask up to only reveal his mouth and they started making out viciously.

When they stopped to breathe, she said "Damn, why are we so all over each other?" She literally couldn't keep her hands off him, and he seemed to feel the same way.

He laughed, pulling the mask back over his face. "No idea," he said. "But since I'm not too keen on fucking in an alley, let's head to the ball—no use teasing ourselves."

Deep down she agreed, but she chose to tease him, "Deadpool would fuck in an alley."

Bruce laughed. "He definitely would," he conceded, "but sadly I'm not truly that mouthy mutant and I just can't bring myself to do it in an alley."

"_Mutate_," she corrected him.

"What?"

"Deadpool's a _mutate_. He got his powers through that weapon X program. Mutants are _born_ with their powers."

He stared at her in silence. "Quit turnin' me on, girl."

She laughed as they took a left onto 87th street. "I'm actually grateful those thugs attacked us. This way we can arrive incognito," he told her.

She was slightly saddened. "So the paparazzi won't want to take pictures of us?"

He chuckled. "I doubt that, we look sexy. And they'll want to discuss who they think we are of course."

She smiled; to be honest she kind of liked this plan better too. They walked along the sidewalk in silence, laughing when a teenager screamed "I love you Ms. Marvel!" out the window of an Escalade. Bruce was also getting tons of gazes. Not many people could pull off the costume like he did. He looked like he could be the real Deadpool; the tight body suit hugged his muscles, his strong gait captured Deadpool's swagger, and he still carried both guns in his hands, too into the character to have remembered to up them away.

"So you alright with handing me over to Joker?" she asked.

"You getting cold feet? You know I'll be there if it sounds like something is going wrong," he replied, dropping the Deadpool persona and getting back into his serious self.

"I know. But…" she faltered. "I hope what I'm about to say doesn't make you feel awkward but Joker kind of likes rough sex and if he sees this bite mark—which he probably will—who knows what will happen. So maybe you and I should have a code word which means things are getting out of hand. You know—for sex and for if the other Batman shows up while I'm there or if things go wrong in a more general sense..." she trailed off, waiting on his reply.

"That's not a bad idea," he replied. "Do you have a preference for the safety word?"

"Hmm…" she mused. "How about 'watermelon'?"

"That's a little too obvious," he replied. She could discern a smile even through the fabric of his mask. "We need to choose something you could say in regular conversation. We wouldn't want you to say something random. Then they'd know something was up."

"Okay… how about 'fuck a duck'?"

"How in the world is 'fuck a duck' better than 'watermelon'? I said it needs to be a u-su-al word!" he slipped back into character.

"Well I'm more likely to say 'fuck a duck' than 'watermelon'."

He rolled his eyes. "How about 'Oh my god, don't do that again'. There, that's perfect. Vague, not too vague."

"Ummm, I'm worried I'll say that accidentally during sex."

"You'll say those exact words?" he eyed her, crossing his arms in disbelief.

"If it's rough sex, maybe!"

"Say other things if you can take it! Reserve that for if you can't!"

"What if it's not during sex?"

"You can still make up a pretty good lie. With the other ones they're just too random."

She groaned, "Fiiiine, that can be it. I still think 'fuck a duck' is better."

She loved walking through Gotham City next to Deadpool. If she'd been walking by herself in this costume, she would have been hit on 30 times by now. But with this intimidating mercenary beside her, everyone just stared at them in awe and respect. They took a right on 100th street. They could see City Hall in the distance; orange and white lights shown through the windows. Her heart beat faster. They were really almost there! She bounced around happily.

He laughed. "You're like a little kid in a really hot body—it's _very_ strange."

In a weird way she considered that a compliment.

As they got closer, she could see a crowd of people with flashing cameras at the entrance to City Hall.

"Ready?" he asked as they entered the entered the queue that led to the entrance. They walked on red carpet and the path was flanked by a nice silver railing.

"Am I ever!" she replied excitedly, her heart beating out of her chest.

The reporters were taking pictures of some other costumed millionaires in front of a white backdrop like at award shows she'd seen on TV. One of the women was dressed as a tasteful witch, another in a skimpy pink bunny costume. They looked beautiful, but she could tell she looked better as one reporter spotted them and started raving about their arrival. The other two women were forgotten as all the cameras turned their way and started bombarding them with flashing lights.

Bruce grabbed her around the waist, pulling her in front of the white backdrop for pictures. "Everyone please stay calm! We'll be here until Wednesday. Strike a pose, babe," and he flexed his muscles, flipped his guns around skillfully, holstered them, unsheathed his katanas, and posed like Deadpool would.

"Deadpool! Deadpool, over here! Ms. Marvel! Ms. Marvel, a word please!" the reporters screamed, trying to get their attention for an interview.

She loved the attention and modeled like she was a celebrity with poise and ease. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a red head and a video camera, documenting her every move. She recognized the reporter from TV, it was Vicki Vale.

"Ms. Marvel!" she yelled over the buzz of reporters, "you look absolutely amazing! Could you tell us who's under the mask?"

She opened her mouth to reply, excited for her first interview, but Bruce grabbed her around the waist and slipped her behind him, blocking her from the camera. "This is the real Ms. Marvel plain and simple, Vicki. Now excuse us, we have some dancing to do," and he swept her inside the beautifully decorated doorway and away from the flashing cameras and curious reporters.

She was slightly peeved Bruce had pulled her away from Vicki Vale, but her irritation dissipated when she saw the lavishly decorated ballroom. Orange and white string lights lit the enormous room. Beautiful people in elaborate costumes mingled by the bar or danced on the dancefloor. Waiters and waitresses offered them champagne and assorted snacks.

Bruce grabbed two glasses of champagne off one of the trays. "Bottoms up!" he said as he pulled his mask just above his mouth to down the glass in two gulps. He placed the empty glass back on the tray and grabbed another one. She did the same, feeling instantly tipsy from the sudden rush of alcohol.

"Let's dance!" she exclaimed, pulling him towards the dancefloor.

"Whatever you want, babe," and he spun her around, sloshing her new champagne onto her chest. She laughed as it trickled down between her tits. Bruce grabbed her and licked the champagne off her wet skin. "Mmmm."

"You're making me horny!"

"That's the point, dear," he replied with a sly smile.

"Show some decency worthy of your position, won't you, Bruce?" said a woman's voice.

"Who's Bruce?" he asked, looking up from Marley's chest.

A woman with dark, long hair had spoken and eyed them with disdain. She looked like a cat even without her cat costume.

Bruce growled deep in his throat and pulled his mask down to cover his face. "Really brought out the creativity for your costume tonight, didn't you, Selena?"

The woman ignored his jab. "Shouldn't you be out protecting Gotham?" she asked.

"Protecting Gotham from what? You're here."

She rolled her eyes. "If you weren't so busy burying your face in Ms. Marvel's tits you would have noticed some curious costumes over that way," she pointed across the room to two costumed figures, one male, and the other female.

The man was dressed like a knight in full armor. His face was completely concealed by a great helm and a lavish purple cape was draped over his shoulders. The other figure was even more striking; she was dressed as Harley Quinn.

"A little distasteful in my opinion," said Bruce, "but otherwise, uninteresting."

"It may not be if you took a closer look," Selena snapped and disappeared into the crowd.

"What the hell was that about?" Marley asked.

"Oh, just a jealous ex," Bruce replied.

Marley's eyes continued to linger on the woman in the Harley Quinn costume.

"She looks like you," Bruce commented.

"Yeah, she does," Marley replied. Her mind suddenly recalled what Ted had said to her a few weeks ago at the Gotham Royal. He'd marveled at how much he thought she looked like Harley too.

"She's crazy for dressing like that—too soon," Bruce said. "But who cares? Can I get you something else to drink?" he asked, noticing her glass was now empty.

"Sure!" she exclaimed, feeling hella good from the champagne. "If two is good, then ten must be great."

"I like your style, babe," he said as he grabbed her hand, pulling her off the dancefloor and towards the bar. The crowd seemed to magically part for them as they made their way up to the bar to find two open seats. Bruce pulled her seat out first and then sat down in his own.

"What'll it be?" asked a cute female bartender dressed as Poison Ivy.

"I'll have whisky and she'll have…" he waited on her to say what she wanted.

She thought for a few moments. "I'll have a ridiculously filthy vodka martini, please—oh and with about 5 olives in there!"

While they waited on their drinks, they people watched. The Harley Quinn-knight couple had disappeared and they made fun of a few other guys who had dressed as Deadpool. Bruce's costume definitely put them to shame. No one else had come as Ms. Marvel which made her feel very satisfied and special. In a few minutes they got their drinks.

Suddenly someone at Harley's right bumped her, forcing her to turn to see who it was. A face she'd seen several times on TV greeted her. It was Captain Gordon accompanied by his pretty daughter Barbara.

"I apologize," Gordon told Marley.

Marley said it was alright and then Bruce jumped in, realizing it was Gordon she was talking to. He pulled up his mask so Gordon could see who he was.

"Captain Gordon! Excellent costume!" Bruce exclaimed.

Gordon was dressed as Superman; his costume was complete with the red cape and the padded six-pack.

"Bruce! I didn't recognize you under the mask! Looks great!"

Barbara marveled at his costume too, "You look amazing! I love Deadpool!" she said a little too breathlessly, causing Marley to give her a jealous look.

"Thanks, Barbara. Your costume looks good too," Bruce replied.

Barbara was dressed as a female version of Batman—Marley supposed one could call her Batgirl but she'd never heard of such a thing.

"So taking the night off, Gordon?" Bruce asked.

Gordon nodded. "Hopefully the Batman is out there doing my work for me, right?"

Marley and Bruce exchanged a knowing look.

"I'm confident he is," Bruce smiled. "Hey, didn't I see on the news that there was some imposter Batman running around?" Bruce fished.

Gordon grimaced. "That's right. Vicki Vale caught him on camera. He uses guns and isn't afraid to kill or cause collateral damage. Another crazy man in a cape—exactly what this city needs." Gordon down the rest of his drink.

"The real Batman has it under control, Dad," said Barbara. "I think he'll catch the imposter in a few days."

"I'll drink to that," Marley said, raising her glass.

"Me too," said Bruce as they clanked their glasses together.

Barbara looked on jealously, too young to drink with them.

"Please excuse us," Gordon said, "Nice seeing you, Bruce. And—" he held out his hand to shake hands with Marley.

"Ma-" she trailed off, realizing she couldn't tell Gordon she was the famous missing Marley Lynns. "Mantha Mansini," was the first think she could think of. She was lucky the dark lighting of the room hid her blush; she was horrified at how stupid the name sounded.

"Nice to meet you, Mantha," Gordon said, "We'll see you two around," and he steered Barbara away from them, her eyes lingering a little too long on Bruce.

"Mantha Mansini? That's awful," Bruce laughed.

"Shut up!" but she laughed too despite herself.

"I've had a lot to drink so I'm going to take a piss. You going to be okay without me?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe. I bet you ten bucks a guy will be talking to me when you come back out here."

"Make it twenty," he said with a smile. He pulled his mask back down to cover his face and waltzed across the room to the restrooms, leaving her alone at the bar with her martini.

She continued people watching, combing the crowd for the Harley Quinn and the knight. For some reason she couldn't stop thinking about them. She watched the crowd for a few minutes and then turned back to the bar, bored with people watching.

"Hey, sexy," a man's voice said.

She gasped in surprise. It was the knight. His face was completely covered by his helmet, making it impossible to see his face; all she could discern were glinting brown eyes that shone through the eye slits. But it wasn't his hidden face that made her heart beat faster, it was his voice—she'd heard it before but couldn't place it.

"Uh, hi," she said, bored despite her suddenly accelerated heartbeat.

"You look great, babe. How 'bout a dance?"

"Aren't you with Harley Quinn?" she asked.

"Nah, that's just business. Now how 'bout it."

"No thanks. I'm here with someone."

"Ah, Deadpool won't mind," he said, grabbing her arm forcefully.

"The lady said no," a dark voice said from behind the knight. It was Deadpool—of course Bruce had arrived back in time. But his demeanor had changed; he no longer seemed happy or flirtatious, but serious and worried. "Now fuck off before I cut you in half," he threatened, reaching for one of his katanas.

"Yeah, man, no problem," the knight said hurriedly, obviously intimidated by the tall mercenary. The knight scurried away, leaving Marley smiling.

"That was sexy," she started, grabbing Bruce by his leg holsters. "How about you and I—"

Bruce cut her off. "Joker's here," he said darkly in her ear.

"Wha—WHAT?" she exclaimed. "How do you know?"

He pointed to the dancefloor where a number of thugs in clown masks toted machine guns—most of the party guests were still unaware of their presence and were about to be in for an awful surprise. "Go with him—don't be afraid, I'm with you," and he patted her hair barrette. "Remember the safety word?"

"'Fuck a duck'."

"No, it's—"

"I'm not going to remember the other one!"

"Fine! 'Fuck a duck' it is. Now I got to go. I'll be back of course, but in a different guise."

He turned to leave, his new task on his mind, but she grabbed him by the shoulder. "Wait," she said, and pulled his mask up for the last time to give him a passionate kiss.

They shared a few moments where one just gazed at the other. Both of them prayed this wouldn't be their last meeting. And then he disappeared into the crowd right as one of the thugs fired his gun up in the air, causing the whole room to fall into a panicked frenzy. She downed the rest of her martini for courage and combed the crowd for a sign of Joker. She prayed no one would be killed on her account. She was about to move forward and make herself known to the thugs when she felt a hand grip her hair close to the root. The hand flipped her around roughly and she was face to face with the Joker, his wide grin spreading across his pale face.

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize your sexy ass on the evening news?" he said suavely.

"What, no flowers?" she asked to cover her surprise.

"Of course, my sweet," and he pulled a bouquet of roses out from behind his back.

She took them with a smile but he still hadn't let go of her hair. There was a sinister gleam in his eye that scared her. "Please don't hurt anyone," she said. "Let's just get out of here."

"Since when do you give _me_ orders, darling?" he asked as he dragged her towards the door. He took a canister out of his purple jacket, pulled out the clip, and threw the contraption into the center of the room. A dark green smoke emitted from it and everyone near began to cough and retch. But in only a matter of seconds, their coughing and retching turned to soft giggling and then hysterical laughter, their faces twisted into savage grins. She looked on in horror as the horrid smoke spread to every part of the room.

"The ones that don't die from the gas," Joker told one of the thugs, "gun them down. I don't want any survivors."

"No!" Marley screamed in horror. She looked on at the terrible scene with tears in her eyes. This was all her fault.

But then, from up above, dropped a dark figure with pointed ears—it was Bruce! She almost let out a cry of glee but quickly stopped herself. He threw down a silver contraption in the middle of the laughing gas—it immediately started sucking the gas out of the air, neutralizing the poison and making the air breathable again.

"Don't just stand there, you fucking idiots!" Joker yelled. "Kill the Bat!" and the thugs opened fired on Bruce, forcing him to throw a smoke bomb and grapple up and out of the middle of the dancefloor. "Come on, Marley," Joker demanded and she pulled her towards a getaway car.

She obeyed, letting Joker push her into the car and shut the door behind them. She watched the doorway to City Hall, trying desperately to see what was going on inside. But all she could hear was the relentless firing of machine guns, a thick smoke bellowing out the door, and the occasional explosion. Joker put his arm around her and directed her face up towards him.

"You happy to see me?"

In a strange way, maybe she was.


	6. The Joker

The Joker

They'd gotten into the car in such a hurry she hadn't even noticed Jacobs was driving.

"Hey there, miss," he said with a wave as they peeled out and flew onto 102nd street.

"Hi, Jacobs!" she said as cheerfully as she could.

The ghastly scene at City Hall had sufficiently annihilated her buzz and a dull headache settled in around her as the Joker, more than happy to see her, forced his tongue into her mouth and positioned her so she was straddling him. Sure, she'd missed him too, but this wasn't the best time; but she knew better than to tell him that. She checked to make sure her hair barrette was still in place as he buried his face in her tits, already having unzipped her costume. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the cold hardness of it resting securely in her hair. Even though she was tired, coming down from a buzz, and emotionally exhausted, the way he felt her up still got her horny. She knew she'd have to play the part so she reached down to touch his cock.

"Yes, that _is_ a gun in my pants," he said as her hand recoiled from a 9mm, "but I'm still happy to see you."

"You too," she said as she bit his neck. "I missed your cock," she whispered in his ear; that wasn't a lie.

She was about to reach for his belt when a phone rang. "Damn," he grimaced, "I have to take this, sweetheart," and he pushed her off of him and pulled a phone out of the inside of his jacket. She wasn't entirely disappointed and lay back in the seat, not caring if the front of her costume remained unzipped. "What?" Joker said into the phone. "Okay… Okay… Grr…Okay…" he said at intervals. "I wish you weren't so fucking stupid but other than that I'm happy," he snapped. She wondered what that meant. "Meet us back at 23rd," and he hung up the phone grumpily.

"What's up, boss?" Jacobs asked, peering at them through the rearview mirror.

"Fucking cover yourself," Joker snapped at her. She zipped up her costume quickly. "And take a wild guess, Jacobs. No hostages, a couple dozen casualties, and the Batman got away."

"Well look on the bright side, we've gained Marley back," Jacobs reminded him.

Joker was silent, his mind on other things; he peered out the window, seeming to forget about her entirely. She sensed that he was moody and took some time to mentally prepare for what was to come. She'd have to snap back into being in Joker's presence. _Just act natural_, she told herself. _You've done nothing wrong_… _Except fuck Joker's nemesis_, _but that's not a big deal, right?_ she lied to herself. _Just believe the lie. Believe it_. She made sure she crossed her legs so he wouldn't be able to see the bite mark. She wondered how long she could keep it secret.

A swarm of cop cars passed them, heading towards City Hall. She was relieved Bruce had gotten away but was dismayed to learn that there had been a number of fatalities. Joker had said it so nonchalantly, "a couple dozen," as if he'd been ordering donuts. She didn't know why she was surprised; wasn't Joker's madness what attracted her to him in the first place? She couldn't help but think that the blood of those innocent people was on her hands; Joker had been there looking for her. She felt stupid for stepping up to Vicki Vale. She should have realized Joker would see. The silence in the car grew heavier and heavier. She almost wished Joker had continued trying to have sex with her because a deep depression was starting to settle over her. She picked up her bouquet of roses and buried her nose in one. She coughed violently; they smelled awful. Not like roses, but like poison. She placed them on the seat next to her, eying them warily. She wondered what the hell was wrong with them. She wondered if she even _wanted_ to know.

"Sooo," she started, "how were things while I was gone?" she asked, breaking the silence.

He didn't turn from the window, nor did he move to look at her. "Largely uneventful," he answered.

"Any breaks on the imposter Batman?" she asked.

He shook his head no. "I need to draw him out in the open," he said, "but I'm not too keen on offering myself up as bait."

_But you're more than keen on doing it to me?_ She wanted to snap but thought better of it. "Can you think of anyone who'd have it out for you?"

"Umm, yeah, a few," he laughed as Jacobs pulled into a parking garage. "But the real question is who would be fucking stupid enough to do it dressed as my arch nemesis." Jacobs and Marley were both silent as they got out of the car. Marley made sure to "forget" the foul smelling flowers in the backseat. Joker put his arm around her hips. "You look sexy in this costume, my dear. I think I'll have you wear it all the time."

"I'd be fine with that," she answered, smiling, starting to get back into the groove of things.

They got into an elevator and she squeezed Joker's cock when Jacobs wasn't looking. He gave her a half smile but she could tell he was still down. Maybe he'd wanted to kill even _more_ people at City Hall? _Who the hell knows_… She turned her back to Joker and leaned against him as the elevator started rising. She hadn't noticed that Jacobs had his arm in a sling and a bandage around his thigh.

"Damn," Marley exclaimed, "who beat you up?"

Jacobs smiled, always good natured. "You were there, miss. That Bat with the guns."

Marley nodded and looked at Joker. He frowned. She wondered if he ever owned up to escaping the fight when it got out of hand. She doubted it. He didn't seem like the type to take any kind of criticism. She almost burst out laughing when she imagined what would happen if one of his thugs brought it up. "Who else survived?" she asked.

"Not too many," Jacobs replied. "That guy meant business."

"Deadshot," Joker growled. "Deadshot meant business."

"Who's Deadshot?" she asked, hoping to sound convincing.

Joker seemed to have the same hunch as Bruce. He also knew that Deadshot was a mercenary and was working for someone else. _So basically, we're not much farther in figuring this out… _she thought. _Please don't use me as bait again_, she thought, but she couldn't think of a reason why he would.

The elevator arrived at the top floor with a cheerful ding. She saw the familiar door to the penthouse at the end of the hall. Joker unlocked it the door to let them in. Marley could still tell he was upset about something so she wandered away from him and towards Jacobs.

"Is Steele dead?" she asked, wondering about the cranky thug she'd met a week before.

"Nope, he survived," Jacobs told her. He then pointed to the fridge and said, "There's some sushi in there for you if you're hungry," he told her.

"Yay!" she exclaimed. She hoped it would get rid of her headache. She immediately sat down at the kitchen table and dug in. Meanwhile, Joker started blankly out the window; something was obviously on his mind.

In a few minutes, they heard a knock on the door. It was the thugs who'd crashed the Halloween party. They were sweaty and somewhat bloodied but otherwise intact.

Steele tore off his mask and threw it on the ground. "Fuckin' Bat is always saving lives, preventing us from getting hostages, fuckin' ruining our crime sprees in general."

His comment got a general "yeah," "that's right," "mmhmms," from the rest of the thugs. One of them sat down next to her at the table. When he took of his mask, she could see that it was Barney.

"Hi!" she said with a mouth full of fish.

"Hey there, miss," he said with a smile, "nice costume!" he exclaimed, his eyes lingering on her breasts. He looked down at her legs. "That's an interesting bruise," he mused.

Her blood ran cold as she saw Joker's body turn towards them violently at Barney's comment. "_What_?" he hissed, moving towards them. He was already in a bad mood and was looking for someone to take it out on.

"Oh, nothin', I… uh," Barney stammered, thinking Joker was talking to him.

"Shut up," Joker barked, turning his gaze on Marley.

Her body betrayed her and she blushed a deep red. "Umm, I don't know what he's talking about," she gulped.

Joker pulled her chair out with a loud scrape and forced her legs apart. His eyes gazed down at the dark blue bruise; it was a clearly a bite mark—both the top and bottom row of teeth were visible. "What…the fuck… is that?" he hissed.

An awkward silence fell over the room as all the thugs watched to see what would happen. She met eyes with Barney and he quickly looked away.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," Joker held her head in one hand and pressed the other into the bruise, making her squeal. "I said what the fuck is _this_?" and he pressed harder, making her cry out in pain.

"I… umm…" what could she possible say? Lying would only incur more of Joker's wrath, and so she made the foolish decision to tell him the truth. "I fucked Batman."

If she thought the room was quiet before, she was wrong. Now the room was deathly silent. All the thugs pretended to look elsewhere while they were actually deeply interested in the events unfolding before their eyes. Jacobs put his head in his hands and gave her a sympathetic look. Barney wouldn't make eye contact, guilty because of what he'd said.

Joker's face betrayed a hurt expression for a split second, but then his face warped into a look of cold rage. Now she was really deep in it.

"Are you that fucking stupid or that much of a slut? Or both?" he snapped, gripping the bottom half of her face really fucking hard.

"Mm—mm-mmm!" was all she could say while his gloved hand covered her mouth. She doubted he really even cared about her answer anyway. In a strange, unexplainable way, his anger was turning her on. She could feel herself getting wetter the more his green eyes stared down at her with anger and disdain.

"You're one lucky bitch," he snarled as he shoved her head back and let go over her face.

"Why?" she asked, rubbing her jaw, "Because I got to fuck both you _and_ Batman?"

"Fuck no," Joker roared as he grabbed her by the hair—_oh these familiar situations_, she thought. Marley could tell some of the thugs thought what she'd said was funny, but they wouldn't dare laugh in front of Joker. "You're lucky because I like having you as a sex toy and won't horribly maim or kill you for that reason only—even though you are a nasty, ungrateful, little slut."

"Oh," she said, wincing from the roughness with which he held her hair.

"Get up," he ordered her and dragged her towards the bedroom door.  
"Ouch!" she yelled as he yanked her hair harder than she liked.

"You want to feel pain, bitch?" he snarled, now simultaneously terrorizing her and intimidating his men. He tore off her right glove, revealing her bullet wound.

_Oh God, no_—"AAAHHHH!" she shrieked as he pressed on the scabby hole. She fell to her knees as sharp pain electrified her entire body. Tears welled in her eyes as she breathed hard—she really, really hadn't liked that. "Please don't hurt me! I'm really sorry!" she cried as she looked up at him.

"No, you're not…" he snarled.

And he was right—she still didn't regret fucking Bruce; maybe he could tell.

"You like sex in any way, shape, or form, don't you?" He shook her when she didn't answer. "DON'T YOU?"

She nodded, trying desperately to do he wanted.

"No, I won't maim you, but I can certainly make you feel a little bit of pain to show you how deathly serious I am about you being MINE AND MINE ONLY!" He opened the door to the bedroom and threw her in. He turned to his thugs. "Half of you leave, half of you stay. I may need you in a few minutes. But don't get too excited," he warned as some of the thugs' body language greatly perked up.

Before he slammed the door, she made eye contact with Jacobs. He looked extremely distressed and turned away to hid his face. Joker threw the door closed and locked it ominously. She still rested on the ground and held her arm, waiting for him to tell her what to do next. He stared down at her, teeth clenched and eyes narrowed. "Up until now," he started, "I thought you were a fine replacement for Harley. But she would have never opened her legs for Batman," he snarled. "Now get on the bed before I hurt you again."

He didn't have to tell her twice. Her arm still ached horribly from his abuse and her heart burned with fear. She prayed he wouldn't hurt her too bad. He obviously had feelings for her in some capacity or he wouldn't be so jealous, right? She had definitely underestimated the gravity of the situation though. She cursed herself for being so naïve. Of course Joker was a selfish lover. She shouldn't have let herself get so wrapped up with Bruce. But hindsight's 20/20.

"I should have known she was irreplaceable; I should have known you'd pale in comparison."

She sat up on the bed and opened her mouth to defend herself.

"NO!" he snapped, "you're done talking." There was a rage in his green eyes that told her how serious he really was. He turned his back to her, threw open the closet door, and started rummaging around in it. "The only sounds I want to hear you make for the rest of the night are little cries of discomfort and the occasional begs for mercy."

She didn't like the sound of that, but for some reason her pussy began to tingle with anticipation. She wondered if Bruce was listening. She hoped she could take whatever Joker threw at her. Something told her she couldn't. She was certainly no match for his kinky fantasies; she wondered vaguely how Harley had learned to deal with it. She emitted a whimper when he appeared in the doorway of the closet, his hands full of an assortment of objects: rope, a vibrator, nipple clamps, a blindfold, and the same gag he'd put in her mouth for the video.

"Joker—I never meant to do anything you—" she blurted out.

He dropped the objects on the bed, jumped on top of her, stifling her entreaties with a strong hand. It covered the entire bottom half of her face. He leaned in close, his face an inch from hers and peered into her eyes. "If you say another fucking word, Marley, I will give you to my men—and let me assure you, they will do a lot worse to this sweet little ass than I will. Do you understand me?"

She nodded vigorously, betraying a soft squeal.

"There, I like those sounds," he said with a wicked smile. He grabbed the gag and put it in her mouth. "Shh, shhh," he said in response to her "mm, mmms!" "Have you ever used nipple clamps before?"

She nodded.

He laughed, suddenly in a good mood once more. His moods changed in the blink of an eye. "I thought so, you kinky little slut. Now put them on," he said and handed them to her.

She tried not to giggle. Her terror had quickly melded into curiosity and excitement. She moaned as she tightened one of the nipple clamps onto her tit. She could see Joker's crotch bulging as he watched her intently with a crooked smile. When she tightened the other one, he reached forward to tighten them more, making her squeal in a mix of pleasure and pain. He tugged them this way and that way, enjoying having control over her every move.

"Now bend over," and she obeyed, really wanting his cock in her.

He tied her hands behind her back and she moaned as he did it. She laughed a bit.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

She nodded.

"Well you're not supposed to be," and he slapped her ass harder than he'd ever done before. She squealed as he did it again, again, and again. It really was starting to hurt by the 19th or 20th time but she still kinda like it. He put the blindfold on her and she moaned as he tied it tight around her head. She'd never had a blindfold on before and she liked it. With her vision gone, she had to tune into the sounds and movements around her. Each time he touched her it came as a surprise. He yanked at the chain of the nipple clamps, making her wince. She heard the sound of the vibrator turning on. He shoved it between her legs and then tied her ankles together, trapping it right on her pussy.

"My god," he marveled. "You're wet beyond belief."

She laughed behind the gag.

He kept the vibrator on her clit as he slid his huge cock into her pussy, no longer able to resist the sight and expectation of it. He groaned as he thrust into her, grabbing her tied hands for leverage. If she thought they'd had rough sex before, she was wrong. He was ramming her tight pussy with incredible force, each thrust reaching deep down to her g-spot. It didn't take long for her to come, his cock combining in a magical way with the vibrator, but he kept fucking her mercilessly until he got his. He fell onto the bed beside her, breathing hard. He tore off her blindfold and gag and shoved his tongue into her mouth. The make out session that ensued was incredibly romantic as he caressed her ass and tits, making her moan intermittently. He loosed the ties around her ankles and wrists and pulled her on top of him into doggy, her hands still tied behind her back. He thrust into her, making her scream with pleasure. _This sex is rivalling Batman's_, she thought as she came a second time and so did Joker.

The door suddenly burst open. Both their heads jerked towards the door to see what the fuck was going on. She caught a quick glimpse of three figures dressed in black, one with a red eye.

"Look out!" Joker yelled, but it was too late.

They were blinded by a bright white light and then all went dark for Marley.


	7. The Twist

Sure, she'd past out a handful of times these last few weeks, but she still wasn't used to it. And to make things worse, this time she woke up with a splitting headache. All she could see for the first few moments was an intense white light. She winced and closed her eyes again, having to squint to bear it. She blinked a few more times and the brightness got more bearable. She tried to sit up but couldn't. She struggled, terrified and disoriented, and found that she was bound to a metal bed-type contraption by her wrists and ankles. She looked wildly around the room and saw that Joker was in the same predicament except that he looked much more calm and collected, almost bored.

"Hello, my dear. Are you feeling alright?" he smiled.

"Not really!" she exclaimed, struggling in vain to get out of the trap's iron grip. "My eyes fucking hurt!" There was still a black dot in the middle of her vision everywhere she looked.

"A flash grenade will do that to you, sweetheart," he said.

She looked around the room. "Where the hell are we? Some sort of warehouse?"

"Some sort of warehouse, yes. But more importantly, we're in some sort of death trap," he answered calmly.

"What!" she exclaimed. She suddenly noticed that Joker's metal slate was on some sort of track. And to her dismay, so was hers. She followed the tracks around the room as they crisscrossed with one another in an intricate pattern. Both tracks eventually ran parallel to one another and stopped on a platform right in the middle of the room. Above the platform hovered two enormous blades in the style of a guillotine. She screamed bloody murder. "Help! HELP! Someone's trying to kill us!"

Joker sighed. "It seems that way, doesn't it?" he replied. "And what a very _boring_ design. They were heading in the right direction but just couldn't—"

"Even when you're tied up you're still an arrogant bastard," said a malevolent voice that made Marley's blood run cold. A figure stepped out of the shadows, a bloodied clown mask on its face, a gun in its hand. She knew the voice. It was the same one she'd heard at the Halloween party; and the same voice she'd heard at the Gotham Royal. Suddenly it all came together.

"No!" she screamed and jerked wildly against the metal slate. "No not you! It's—it's—"

"Ted," Joker snarled, finishing her thought for her.

The figure laughed darkly and took off his mask to reveal the malevolent rapist and twisted henchman. It was Ted alright, complete with vicious grin and lascivious eyes.

"No! I saw you get shot! It can't be you!" she screamed.

"Oh, but it is me, sweetheart. What? You didn't miss me?" He walked up to her nonchalantly, relishing in his power over both her and Joker. "We didn't get to finish our time together," he said, grabbing her face and dragging the tip of his gun along her chest. "Maybe we can now." And he tried to force his mouth against hers; she lunged forward and head butted him.

"AAGH!" He roared and bitch slapped her across the face.

She gasped from the pain and felt her nose start bleeding. But she couldn't help feel satisfied when she saw that his nose was bleeding also.

"You little fucking slut," he growled.

"How the fuck are you alive?" Joker spat. "I shot you myself."

Ted smiled and turned from Marley towards Joker. He rubbed his hands together, happy that Joker had asked. "Well, Kevlar," he replied, "And…I had a little help."

And another figure in a clown mask stepped out of the shadows.

"NOO!" she shrieked. She didn't need the figure to take off the mask to know who it was. She knew his frame, she knew his gait. "JACOBS! Why? I trusted you!" She yelled as tears flooded her eyes.

He took off his mask to reveal his face. He smiled a devious smile, one she'd never seen before. "Trusting _him_ was your first mistake," he pointed to Joker, "Trusting _me_ was your second. You gotta know good guys don't flock to Joker's gang."

"Yeah, just take a look at me!" Ted laughed.

"But you're different!" she pleaded with Jacobs. "You don't have to do this, Jacobs! Just let me out of here! Please!"

"Sorry miss," he said. "We got two guillotines and we ain't gonna waste one."

"What's wrong, baby?" Ted jeered. "You don't wanna get chopped up?"

"We told you back at the Royal; you were in the wrong place at the wrong time…" Jacobs added.

She burst into tears, unable to control her emotions.

Ted turned back to Joker. "You have no idea how long I've dreamed of killing you. You're a fucking piece of shit!" he threw the clown mask onto the ground and crushed it with his foot. It broke into separate tiny pieces with a loud crunch. "Damn, that felt good. Jacobs, crush yours."

Jacobs looked at his mask and then back at Ted. "Um, no thanks. I'm good."

"Come on, man, do it. It's great for dramatic effect."

"No."

"Come on."

"No! You can crush mine if you want."

"Fine," Ted huffed, "Give it here," and he snatched the mask from Jacobs and crushed it into the pavement. He turned back to Joker. "You're a fucking bastard! You're an abusive, unpredictable, needlessly sarcastic, lying cunt!"

"Not to mention," Jacobs added, "he never gave us that raise we asked for!"

"That's right! No raises after four goddamn years! And we never got any fuckin' bonuses either!"

"Oh wow, these are excellent grounds for murder!" Marley screamed at them.

"It's alright, my sweet," Joker said, smiling as if he were enjoying this. "These two goons can't pull this off."

"Oh really?" Ted spat. "Well we ain't working alone! This goes deeper than you know!"

"Is that so?" Joker asked skeptically.

"He ain't lying Mister J," said a woman's voice.

The sinister grin was wiped from Joker's face as a blonde woman in a sexy black and red dress stepped out from the shadows. It was the same woman she'd seen at the Halloween party. It was Harley Quinn herself! A man covered head to toe in a black, armored suit followed her; it was Deadshot like they'd suspected.

"Oh, Harley," Joker growled. "What stupid fucking idea have you come up with now?"

"Same old Mister J!" Harley screamed. "Always being mean to me and calling me stupid! Making me have really rough sex! Well I was tired of it, Mister J! That's why I'm going to get my revenge! At first I was just going to watch you fall apart without me. But then you got this stupid little slut to take my place!" she pointed to Marley.

"Yeah," Ted said, "Come on, J, she's really just a discount Harley Quinn."

"No I'm not!" Marley exclaimed.

"Yeah, miss," Jacobs added, "Ya kinda are."

"Fu—"

"Shut up!" Harley yelled as she pointed her gun at her. "This isn't about you; it's about me and Mister J."

"Oh, Harley," Joker cooed. "You know we can work this out, baby. You know I've always loved you," he said suavely. Harley turned away from him and crossed her arms, pouting. "The rough sex was always just for fun—I thought you liked it! This bitch did!" Joker said, referring to Marley. "And you know I could never _really_ replace you. This girl was just a substitute for _you_. I wanted _you_ all along."

Harley turned back towards him, her eyes widening with hope. She reached out to touch his face lovingly. "You really mean it, Mister J?"

"Don't listen to him, Harley!" Ted exclaimed, "He's just trying to manipulate you!"

"He's right!" Harley exclaimed, recoiling her outreached hand. "That's what you'd always do, Mister J! That's why I had to fake my death! It was the only way I could get rid of you!"

Joker scoffed. "Seems like an elaborate waste of time. All you had to say was that you didn't want to be with my anymore."

"You'd just trick me into staying with you!" she yelled back at him.

"That's bullshit! You're being overly dramatic." Joker snapped. "Now if you're going to kill me then fucking do it before the Bat gets here. But I highly doubt you have it in you."

Marley had forgotten all about Batman. She glanced around the room for any sign of him. Surely she didn't need to say the safety word; surely he knew this was an emergency situation. "FUCK A DUCK!" she yelled at the top of her lungs; better safe than sorry.

The four villains turned to stare at her.

Marley shrugged. "Sorry, Tourettes."

They turned back to Joker; he was the real focus of this and she was just an extra.

"Oh, I definitely have murder in me, Mister J," Marley continued. "You put a nail in your own coffin when you starting fucking this bitch!"

"And when you didn't give a shit about Frank dying!" Jacobs added.

"And when you fuckin' tried to kill me!" Ted yelled too.

"I personally have nothing against you," Deadshot added, "but they offered me a nice sum."

"Then what the fuck did _I_ do?" Marley exclaimed, still wondering why she was involved in this vendetta.

"Because you fucked Mister J!"

"Because you didn't say thank you when I got you sushi!"

"Because you didn't let me rape you!"

"Again, I personally have nothing against you."

"But that's not the point," Harley said, speaking to both of them now. "The point is that after tonight I'll control all of Gotham City! I'll be the new boss in town!"

"Batman will never let you get away with this!" Marley yelled. "He'll be here any minute to save us!"

Harley giggled. "Oh, I'm counting on it," she said maliciously. "I got snipers stationed all around this place combing the skies. I've got all windows and doors guarded. I got my men giving me updates on the 5s! And I got special gear to scramble his BatVision!"  
Marley gulped.

Joker rolled his eyes. "If criminal masterminds like me can't take down the Bat, _you_ four surely can't."

"You'll see, Mister J!" Harley yelled.

"How 'bout we put our money where our mouths are!" Ted exclaimed. "Let's fuckin' kill 'em!"

Harley smiled. "You ready too, Jacobs?"

"Am I ever," Jacobs replied, making eye contact with Marley and smiling evilly.

The three walked over to a control panel behind Marley while Deadshot kept his glowing red eye on the two prisoners.

"Oh this is so exciting!" Ted cried happily.

"It really is," Jacobs agreed.

Harley punched a code into the control panel and the big screen filled up with red glowing letters that read 59.00, 58.00, 57.00, counting down to zero.

"Oh, a countdown, how riveting," Joker said sarcastically.

"It wasn't my choice!" Harley snapped. "We couldn't do a system override! The machine has to do the countdown!"

"I could have fixed it to where it started immediately," Joker sighed. "This is why you need me, Harley. Are you sure you want to do this, darling?"

Marley's eyes darted back and forth from the clock to the ceiling, praying for any sign of Batman. She hadn't seen him yet and the clock was now down to 30 seconds.

"Yes, I'm sure, Mister J!" Harley snapped. "I've found a new lover now!" and she grabbed Jacobs and they kissed passionately.

"That's disgusting, Harley," Joker snapped, clearly jealous. "I really thought you'd choose someone better. I mean, at least choose Deadshot here," Joker said as the timer his 9.00.

"She tried," Deadshot told him, "but I'm taken."

"Oh," Joker said, still eying Harley and Jacobs. "Well, looks like this is it, Marley," he said to her with a crooked, sympathetic smile.

"No! NO! NOOOO!" Marley screamed as the timer hit 00.00 and her metal slate lurched upwards. She zoomed backwards, heading up towards the ceiling. The track reached a peak and then she zoomed back down towards the ground. Sure, she liked rollercoasters but going backwards made her want to throw up. She screamed as her tracked curved to the right and intertwined with Joker's. While she screamed and cried, he, on the other hand, was laughing hysterically as if he were at a carnival. Their tracks were now running parallel to one another as they zoomed back up another incline and then back down to skate across the ground. She tilted her head backwards and saw the silver blades up ahead, already slicing up and down. She screamed bloody murder but stopped suddenly as everything went dark. The power must have been switched off as her and Joker came to a screeching halt on the tracks.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Joker joked, "What a jip! This was just getting exciting!"

She could hear Jacobs and Ted curse loudly.

"What the fuck happened!" Harley exclaimed.

"Power got cut off somehow!" Ted yelled as he illuminated a flashlight and shined it around the room.

"You mean some_one_ cut it off. The Bat's here!" Jacobs snarled, taking out his gun and cocking it.

Harley watched as Marley pulled out a radio. "Steele," she said into it. "Steele, come in!" There was silence. "Rubio! Rubio, do you copy?" There was no answer. "Fuck! Deadshot, get down there to check on him and the others. Jacobs, come with me to reset the power. Ted, you stay here with the prisoners."

"Why don't we just go ahead and kill 'em?!" Ted exclaimed.

"Because I wanna see them get chopped up!" Harley retorted. "And not to mention this fucking deathtrap took forever to set up and I'm not letting that time and money go to waste!"

Ted rolled his eyes but didn't argue. The three others disappeared from the room, leaving Joker and Marley alone with Ted and his flashlight.

Joker sighed, "Oh, I knew you thugs couldn't pull this off…"

"Shut up, you fuckin' clown," Ted snapped, shining his light onto her and Joker.

Marley wasn't totally sure, but she thought she saw a dark figure escape from the light and melt back into the shadows.

Ted continued. "It's taking a lot of self-control right now to keep from puttin' a fuckin' bullet in your head. Speaking of self-control," he mused, looking at Marley lustfully, "I'm surprised I'm not fuckin' _you_ yet. How else are we gonna to kill the time 'til they get the power back up?"

"Get the fuck away from me!" Marley screamed as Ted moved towards her with a wicked grin.

"And," he said, looking down at her, "I won't have to worry 'bout you biting me again 'cus I came prepared," and he pulled a rag from his pocket and stuffed into her mouth, stifling her screams.

"Ted, you're even more villainous than me," Joker snapped as he watched Ted tie Marley's hands and feet with rope; he'd have to take her out of the deathtrap in order to get the right angle for sex. "Don't worry, sweetheart," Joker tried to soothe the hysterical Marley, "I'm sure his cock is a lot smaller than what you're used to."

Ted growled but ignored Joker's comment as he walked over to the control panel and released Marley from the metal slate. She rolled off it and landed on the ground with a hard thud. When Ted came towards her she kicked and tried to worm away but it was no use. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her towards him, forcing her head against the ground he pushed her panties to the side.

But before he could put his hard cock into her, a dark figure flew out of the darkness, knocking the flashlight out of Ted's hand and sending it rolling across the ground. Marley sat up and crawled away from where she could hear Ted and the dark savior fighting. She couldn't see any of the action as the flashlight had rolled to light only a vacant portion of the room.

She heard Ted scream and a woman laugh.

"Don't you know girls stick together when it comes to nasty men like you?"

Marley recognized the voice from the ball; it was the woman who'd pointed out Harley Quinn and the knight. She heard Ted grunt again and then saw his body fly into the light. On his face she saw four deep scratched, gushing blood. Ted stayed on the ground, holding his face. A woman in a tight, black body suit stepped into the light, holding a whip. On her eyes she wore red goggles. Atop her head were two pointy ears.

"Catwoman!" Marley exclaimed happily.

"Oh, yay," Joker said, clearly bored and disappointed. "Fancy seeing you here, pussycat."

Catwoman ignored both of them but dragged Ted over to the vacant slate next to Joker and strapped him in.

They all ignored Ted's pleas and sorrys and entreaties.

"Where's Batman?" Marley asked.

"Batman didn't come tonight. Another hero is here for you, however," Catwoman answered.

Marley wondered what that meant.

"Come on," Catwoman told her as she cut the rope that bound Marley's hands and ankles with her sharp claws, "we need to meet up with Bruce," Catwoman told her quietly so that Joker couldn't hear.

So Bruce was here to save her!

"What about me?" Joker called as Catwoman pulled Marley towards the fire escape.

"Oh, we haven't forgotten you," Catwoman assured him with a sly smile. "You're next destination is Arkham Asylum." Catwoman kicked out the window and a cold wind invaded the room.

"Oh, goody!" Joker laughed. "I bet they've missed me there!"

"Hold on to me," Catwoman told Marley.

Marley obeyed and wrapped her arms around Catwoman's slender body.

The next thing she knew, Catwoman had cracked her whip and they went flying into the night sky, escaping from the room with the deathtrap.


	8. The Concoction

She screamed as she flew through the air, clinging to Catwoman for dear life. Catwoman skillfully swung them up and over the wide, cement ledge of the roof with her black whip. Catwoman landed gracefully but Marley was thrown from her back and tumbled until she came to a clumsy halt on the cold, hard roof.

"Thanks for screaming in my ear," Catwoman hissed as she cracked her whip and placed it back on her belt in a tight curl.

"Thanks for throwing me, bitch!" Marley spat back, wiping gravel from the front of her clothes.

"You're welcome for saving your life, bitch!"

"Ladies, ladies," a familiar voice said. "If you're gonna fight at least take your clothes off first."

"Bruce!" Marley exclaimed, rushing towards him and throwing herself in his arms.  
He was back in his normal get-up but was still feeling nostalgic for the Deadpool costume, which explained his raunchy remark.

Marley laughed as she stepped back to survey him. "As sexy as you looked in the other costume, this one still gets me horny…" she leaned against him and he took the bait, taking her in his strong arms and kissing her romantically. He caressed her ass sensually.

Marley giggled while Catwoman growled under her breath. "What's the plan, _Deadpool_?" Selena snarled, hating both the fact that her ex and Marley were a thing and the Deadpool/Batman cosplay in general.

But before Bruce could reply, bullets spattered across the rooftop, causing Catwoman and Bruce to dive behind a few well-placed crates. Marley, who had just kept standing there like an idiot, only survived this assault because Bruce had the sense to reach out and drag her into safety.

"It's Deadshot," Bruce told both of them. "It won't be difficult to take him into custody."

Catwoman rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but what about her? We need to put her somewhere—she's a liability."

"Where the hell are we going to put her? It's not like there are a lot of options here," Bruce replied, taking two batarangs from his utility belt and peering over the crates to fire them at Deadshot.

"Let's just put her in one of these crates," Catwoman suggested.

"What!" Marley exclaimed.

Bruce chuckled. "We're not putting her in a crate. Let's just clear off this rooftop and then we'll get her out of here."

"Easier said than done," Catwoman hissed.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"I mean we got company!" Catwoman yelled as they all heard the unmistakable rapid whirling of a helicopter right above their heads. They all peeked up above the crates to see what was happening. The helicopter didn't land, but instead an enormous, bulky figure dropped from the helicopter and landed with a hard thud on the rooftop. Marley gulped as she stared with wide eyes at the biggest man she'd ever seen. He wore some sort of mask that reminded Marley of the type wrestlers would wear. Some sort of contraption sat atop his back; a green, fluorescent fluid surged through it. Marley then watched as ropes were thrown out both sides of the chopper, followed by a number of well-armed thugs wearing similar masks.

"Ugh, it's Bane," Bruce groaned.

"What? Is Bane too much man for ya?" Catwoman teased.

Bruce gave her a look. "I'll take Bane and his men. Selena, you take Deadshot."

"Don't make me save your ass again," Catwoman hissed. Marley wasn't sure if she was talking to her or Bruce. Catwoman then tumbled out from behind the boxes and starting sprinting for the other end of the roof, drawing Deadshot's fire away from Bruce and Marley.

"What do I do?" Marley asked, bewildered and afraid.

"Well, first kiss me," Bruce demanded as he grabbed her around the waist and kissed her romantically. "And now," he said when they were done, "stay here and don't get killed or I'm going to be very, very upset."

Before she could argue, he'd already jumped over the boxes and was actively engaging Bane and his men. The huge guy who Marley assumed was Bane, made the ground rumble as he charged towards Bruce. Batman rolled out of the way just in time and jumped onto Bane's back, dislodging one of the massive tubes and sending green liquid spraying everywhere.

Bane roared, caught Bruce by the neck, and sent him flying across the rooftop to crash into the very crates Marley was hiding behind. She screamed, suddenly exposed to the numerous villains. She grabbed Bruce, attempting to shake him from his lifeless state.

"Wake up! Bru—I mean, Batman! BATMAAAAN!"

She could see Bane's massive figure moving towards them, smiling with sick pleasure. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Catwoman fighting Deadshot all the way on the other side of roof, ignorant of their predicament.

Bane walked towards them slowly, menacingly, as his men closed ranks, circling in around them with their guns raised. The massive man was even more terrifying up close.

"BAAATMAAAN!" she screamed in Bruce's face, afraid for her life.

Suddenly Bruce came back to life as if the whole time he'd only been pretending in order to bring Bane and his men closer. He grabbed Marley and covered her eyes, ignoring her squeal of surprise. Marley heard a loud bang and opened her eyes to see Bane and his men wincing and shaking their heads in pain.

"What the hell was that?" Marley asked as Bruce dragged her towards a door to the story below them.

"Flash grenade," he answered. "Now get downstairs and I'll be there in a few minutes once I've taken care of these guys."

Marley could see that Bane and his men had started to recover from the blast and were once again mobilizing to move towards her and Bruce.

"Go!" Bruce yelled, opening the door, pushing her through, and then slamming the door behind her. She heard a loud roar and pounding against the door as she backed away from it warily. She prayed Bruce would be alright but she had enough common sense to do what he said and keep away from the rooftop.

She tried to stay calm as she made her way down the dark stairwell. Power still hadn't been restored to the building so in the darkness everything seemed that much creepier—not to mention, Jacobs, Harley, and Ted were still on the loose and she didn't even have a weapon to protect herself. _Wait a minute, maybe I do!_ she thought. _I have the most deadly weapon of all—the Joker!_ She tried to remember which floor they'd been locked in the deathtrap but she didn't even know how many floors were even in the building. Hell, she didn't even know what building they were in. It couldn't have been too far though because she and Catwoman had swung up to the roof rather quickly. The thought crossed her mind that Bruce wouldn't be too happy if she released Joker, but what else was she supposed to do? Hide in some corner until Ted and the others found her? _Hell no_, she thought.

For a few seconds she pondered how all this was going to turn out. Joker in prison and her in Bruce's arms? She liked the latter but something about the former didn't sit right with her. _Maybe he does belong in Blackgate_… she mused_. I mean, he murders, terrorizes, and maims_. But he'd been kind to her hadn't he? Well, for the most part he had. She decided she'd release him and see where things went from there. Joker would certainly protect her—she was perhaps the only ally he had left after all his men had betrayed him. She hoped releasing him wouldn't ruin her chances with Bruce. Surely their sex had been good enough not to warrant the cold shoulder even if she allowed a dangerous criminal to go free? She guessed she'd find out.

She'd soon come to a door at the bottom of the stairwell. She reached for the knob warily and creaked the door open, peeking through the crack. Her ears were more use than her eyes as she discerned that the coast was clear. She tiptoed into the dark room that was lit only by the faint glow of the moon. She could still hear gunshots and the occasional loud thud coming from the rooftop. She needed to find another stairwell so she could survey the floors below. She guessed that Joker and the deathtrap were four or five floors below her, so she hoped she'd be able to find him quickly—she just had to make sure she didn't run into the deadly trio before then. Her foot suddenly hit something that made a hollow metallic sound as it skidded across the ground. She groped around in the dark for the object and found a heavy crowbar. _Good, this will do for now_, she thought as she gripped it and continued moving forward, hoping she'd soon find another stairwell.

She suddenly heard the sound of someone coming—voices and the sound of footsteps. Her heart started racing as she groped around in the dark for a hiding place. She wasn't sure if it was a desk or a table or a big shelf but she dived underneath it just as she heard a door open. They didn't sound too far away as she heard the door slam. They started talking and she recognized the voices instantly.

"Now that I'm outta that fuckin' machine, let's find that bitch and put _her_ back in." It was Ted.

"Put who in? Catwoman or Marley?" she heard Jacobs asked.

"Fuckin' both! And while we're at it let's find the Bat too," Ted replied.

The room was completely dark except for their flashlights, but they were only about 20 feet away from Marley. She could hear Ted's heavy footsteps as he charged angrily towards the stairs that would lead him up to the rooftop.

"Well hold on, man," Jacobs demanded, arrested Ted's steps. I know we're all angry at Catwoman, pissed at the Bat, and furious at that Marley bitch but maybe we should.." he faltered, "ya know, get the hell outta here while the Cat and the Bat are both distracted? We don't wanna end up back at Blackgate again…"

Ted was silent for an awkward few moments. "What, so give up? Harley ain't gonna be too happy with that talk."

"I know but you think we can beat 'em? All they've done is beat the hell outta us so far. I mean, look at your face, Ted."

Marley had to stifle a laugh when she remembered the enormous lacerations Catwoman had given Ted. Even though Catwoman didn't like her, she kinda liked Catwoman.

Ted opened his mouth to come back with an angry retort but couldn't think of a smart one fast enough.

Jacobs continued, "I mean, your face looks really bad, man. I think we should get Scarecrow to stitch it up," Jacobs shined the light on Ted's face to reveal the open wound.

"Hell nah! I'm not goin' to Scarecrow!" Ted snapped, pushing the light away. "You saw what that maniac did to Frank! Fuckin' cut him open in front of all of us on the kitchen table!"

Marley recalled the grisly autopsy Dr. Crane had performed on Frank back at Joker's apartment.

"That _was_ fucked up…" Jacobs murmured, "And it just proves my point! Let's get you to a real doctor."

"Does it really look that bad?"

"Yes!" Jacobs exclaimed.

They'd stopped walking now as they conversed in the dark, hardly 6 feet from Marley.

Jacobs shined his flashlight onto Ted's face. Marley couldn't see very clearly through the cracks in her hiding place but heard Ted push the flashlight away after a few seconds.

"Well goin' to a hospital equates to turnin' myself in to the cops—and there's no way in hell I'm doin' that," Ted snarled.

"Yes, so let's skip town, man!" Jacobs pleaded. "Get you an outta town doctor and get outta town, man—I can feel this goin' south."

"But what about Harley?" Ted asked. "I thought you really liked her?"

Marley was surprised to hear such a sincere tone coming from Ted.

Jacobs sighed as Ted stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for an answer.

Before Jacobs could reply, the high-pitched voice of Harley Quinn made Marley jump so severely that she bumped her head hard against the wood of her hiding place. Luckily, Ted and Jacobs were also so startled by Harley's sudden appearance that they didn't seem to have heard Marley's loud banging.

"Go ahead, Jacobs," Harley said, stepping out from the shadows. "Answer the question," she pointed her gun at him menacingly, her playful nature changed.

Jacobs stammered while Ted remained silent.

"I was going to suggest you come with us!" Jacobs claimed. "Ya know, leave the Joker and everyone else in Gotham City behind us!"

"And you agree with this, Ted?" Harley asked him.

"Umm… I plead the 5th," Ted murmured.

Harley rolled her eyes. "Well neither of you idiots is going anywhere! I got a continent plan!"

Ted and Jacobs were both silent, confused. Marley even furrowed her brow, wondering what the hell Harley meant by "continent plan."

"You mean _contingency_ plan?" Jacobs ventured after a few moments.

"Yes! Contingency—shut up," Harley snapped. "I got this whole place rigged to blow."

Marley's eyes widened.

The two thugs were still silent.

"You prepared the bombs yourself?" Ted asked.

"Yes, idiot! Why do you ask?" Harley snapped.

"I mean, ya sure you set 'em up right?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Harley screamed. "You think I spent I-dunno-how-many years around Mister J and didn't pick up a few things?!"

Ted shrugged.

"Your lack of confidence is more than disturbing!" Harley replied, "And if I hear another word of decision—"

"Dissension," Jacobs corrected her.

"Yes, dissension—shut up—I am going to fucking kneecap you! Got it?"

"Yep—Yes, definitely," Ted replied.

Harley eyed him for a few moments, trying to figure out if he was patronizing her or not.

"So what's the plan then?" Jacobs cut in.

"I was getting to that!" Harley exclaimed. "If you two would quit questioning me!"

"I wasn't—"

"SHHH!" Harley ordered, eying Jacobs and Ted menacingly. This time they seemed to take the hint. "Mister J and the girl are still in the death trap, I'm assuming?" She asked the two thugs.

There was another awkward silence.

"Uhhh," Ted mumbled for a second before confessing. "Catwoman showed up, scratched me, got the bitch out, then swung up to the roof."

Jacobs glanced at Ted, acknowledging the slight change in story, but nodded when Harley asked him if it was true.

"But Mister J is still trapped?"

"Yes!" Ted and Jacobs exclaimed, eager to hear the plan.

"Good!" Harley said, holstering her gun and clapping her hands together girlishly. It was strangely similar to what Marley did when she was happy too. "Well here's the plan," Marley started. "It ain't just me and you idiots against B-man anymore. I called in back up!"

Jacobs and Ted nodded eagerly.

"I called in Bane and Scarecrow," Harley smiled mischievously. "And guess what?"

"What?" exclaimed the two thugs, surprised at Harley's forethought.

"Deadshot just radioed me and said he's got B-man!"

Marley barely stifled her gasp of dismay.

"Oh hell yeah!" exclaimed Ted.

"That's right, boys," Harley answered, clearly impressed with herself. "So we're on our way up to the roof to meet Deadshot, Bane, Scarecrow and our new prisoner. And then we're gonna put the Bat in the death trap too!" Harley sighed and her eyes became misty, "Mister J is gonna be so proud."

"Okay… so what about the bitch?" Ted asked.

"Again, do you mean Catwoman or Marley?" Jacobs asked.

"Well I meant Marley, but I guess yeah what about Catwoman, too?" Ted asked Harley as they made their way across the room. "We can't just have 'em runnin' round the place."

"I don't give a shit about that little slut who slept with Mister J!" Harley exclaimed. "If she has any sense she's outta Gotham by now." Marley smiled from her hiding place. "And I kinda like Catwoman so I hope she got away."

"I don't have a good feeling about this, Harley," Ted said, holding his face, "but hell yeah let's go get the Bat!"

And with that the door to the dark room slammed and Marley listened as the voices of the three villains faded down the hallway. She jumped up from her hiding place eagerly, her back aching from being bent over for so long. She made haste in the opposite direction of the crooks, hoping that Joker was close—now she had to figure out a way to try and save Bruce too...

She felt more exposed than ever as she made her way down a dimly lit stairwell. She gripped her crowbar tightly as she tried to guess which floor the death trap had been on. She remembered the ceiling had been rather high, certainly higher than the room she'd last been in. When she came to another door, she passed by it without opening it, knowing that the height wasn't right. She travelled down deeper and deeper before she reached double doors. Her heart beat quicker. Somehow she knew that this was the room. She put her ear to the door, trying to figure out if the coast was clear. She couldn't hear anything and so she opened the door silently.

The big, open room gave her the creeps. The deathtrap wound around the room like a massive, silver snake and the blades of the guillotine gleamed in the low light. At first the room was eerily silent and she was afraid Joker wasn't even there. But then she heard a low sound, almost like a hum, coming from deep within the room. It started out soft but got louder. At first it startled her but then she heard the words to the tune, punctuated by joyous giggles that were out of place in the cold darkness.

"Nobody knows the troubles I've seen—_hahaha_— nobody knows my—" he laughed harder, "my—" he couldn't finish the verse because he was laughing so hard.

It was Joker, singing to himself in the dark.

Marley popped up from behind the chair, surprising him with a flirty smile.

"Why, Marley!" Joker exclaimed, a broad grin spreading across his face. "What a pleasant surprise! Now tell me the truth," his face suddenly got serious, "how'd you like my singing?" He threw his head back in laughter. "Who am I kidding? Of course you loved it!"

Marley would normally have been surprised at such erratic behavior but she could say proudly she'd gotten used to the Joker's insanity by now.

"I'm here to get you out—"

"Get me out?" he seemed surprised, "Why? Don't you want to see if they can pull of their pathetic plan?"

"They tweaked their plan a bit Joker—" she told him as she walked over to the control panel, puzzling over how to release him.

"Improvising I see," he hissed. "Yet another challenge presents itself for poor, poor Harley…" Joker mused to himself.

"Explosives," Marley said, surveying all the different buttons to choose from. "Harley rigged the building to blow. Let's find the bombs and disarm them—what do you say?" Marley asked Joker, giving him another flirtatious smile.

Joker smiled back wickedly. "You want me to _save_ lives, my sweet? _Prevent_ an explosion? Why, that's absolutely criminal!" He laughed hard.

Marley didn't. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him intently, like a mother would a child.

He rolled his eyes. "I really hope Batman isn't rubbing off on you," he hissed.

Marley acted offended. "The building could collapse and kill all of us," she retorted. "How are we supposed to get out of here and spend the rest of our lives on some island fucking each other if the building collapses?"

Joker stared at her for a few more moments; his gaze made her feel uncomfortable, as if he could clearly tell that she was lying—that her true intentions were to get him out, disarm the bombs, and somehow save Batman in the process. After a few more moments he said, "Well let's at least blow up Jacobs and Ted."

Marley was silent for a few moments. "Okay, I can deal with that," she said happily, excited to get Joker out of the death trap and back into her arms. "So… first things first," she said, "how do I get you out of that thing?" She was honestly at a loss when it came to the control panel.

"Oh darling, remember back when that horrible man Ted released you from the trap?" Joker asked her.

"Yes," she replied, having no idea what he was getting at.

"Well," he said slowly, "he typed in the code right in front of us with zero discretion." Joker rolled his eyes. "It's so easy it's painful!" he cried.

"Do you really blame me for not seeing the code at that moment? Tell me what it is!" Marley exclaimed, terrified that Ted or Jacobs would appear before she got Joker out of the trap.

Joker sighed. "Capital 'c,' four zeros, and a 'ck'."

Marley typed in the code and furrowed her brow. "Wait, that spells 'cock'."

"I know," Joker replied, bored.

"That's kinda funny," she commented as she pressed the enter button.

"Oh, Marley, it's really not…"

The metal cuffs that held Joker to the chair retracted and he stepped out of the death trap with a suavity that made heat rush to her face. He straightened his bowtie and smoothed out the sleeves of his suit. He turned to her with that same wicked smile on his face. She stood motionless at the control panel, her heart beating out of her chest. He looked at her like a hungry animal. It was as if he was across the room and then right in front of her with unnatural speed. He wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her body in close to his. "You shouldn't have let me out," he whispered in her ear, "I kill people, I destroy, I inflame." One of his hands travelled up behind her neck and he wrapped his fingers in her hair sensually. "But something about that excites you, doesn't it?"

She gasped softly as one of his hands slid in between her legs; the other hand tilted her head back to meet his gaze. "Would you ever _kill_ anyone, Marley? Would you kill Ted for what he did to you?"

The question caught her totally off guard— a few seconds ago she'd been fine with the idea of "killing Ted and Jacobs," but now that the Joker was out, his arms around her, and his homicidal urges calling, the full gravity of the action suddenly set in.

"Umm, I… Umm," she stammered stupidly. Sure, she'd imagined murdering Ted for what he'd done to her—or _tried_ to do to her. But _actually_ murdering him? The thought put a knot in Marley's stomach.

Instead of getting frustrated at her silent dissension, he gave her a mischievous smile. "Don't fret, my sweet, sweet Marley. I knew you didn't have it in you." He whispered, "That's quite alright," and his mouth met hers in a sensual and enjoyable kiss. Marley was so wrapped up in being close to him again that she didn't hear a faint clinking of Joker reaching into his suit for something. He bit her neck a little roughly but it still served to turn her on as he continued fingering her, making her pay attention to all the wrong things. He moved back up to make out with her once more. In a few moments Marley felt a euphoric sensation take over her body, she gasped and withdrew her mouth from Joker's. Her eyes widened as she drank in the horrific sight before her. Joker's mouth was covered with what looked like a glowing green liquid. When he smiled a twisted grin she could see it covered his teeth as well. The euphoric feeling pulsated through her body. Joker's voice echoed, "Feeling strange, darling…darling….darling?" And then his laugh seemed to cackle around her.

She reached her hand up to her mouth and her fingers came away stained with the same green liquid. "What the hell is this?" She asked, interested but more excited and exhilarated than anything.

"Oh, this?" he asked, holding up a clear vile that still held the remaining substance. "Just a little something I concocted especially for you, my sly little mink."

"Well thank you," she said—the euphoric feeling had suddenly transformed into a full body orgasm that had already lasted an entire minute. "This… feels… amazing."

"That it does, my sweet. But wait there's more," he grinned at her, "it'll heighten your senses, make you faster—and the best part…"

"Yes?" she asked as she smiled impossibly wide.

He spun her out into the middle of the room as if they were dancing at a ball. "The best part is that you will do anything I say now, Marley. _Anything_ I say."

Deep down she knew there was something very wrong. But as Joker held her in his arms and kissed her again and again, as the elation pumped through her body, she gazed up at him like a god.

"Now that we've taken care of that pesky conscience, Misss Marley," he hissed, "could you _kill_ Ted? Could you _murder_ him?" Both his eyes and his smile widened.

She bit her lip and looked deep into his eyes, smiling a wide, wicked smile just like his. "Yes," she giggled uncontrollably. "Yes! YES!"

"Excellent, my darling!" Joke exclaimed, also elated by his own poison. "They come with me and we'll kill two, maybe three—" he laughed, "perhaps four and certainly ten more!"

He spun her again and then led her out the door, his mind churning with thousands of possible schemes.


End file.
